Whole-body imaging of HER2/neu-overexpressing tumors using scFv-antibody conjugated quantum dots

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are widely used in different fields of bioscience and biotechnology due to their unique optical properties. QDs can be used as fluorescent markers for optical detection and monitoring of deeply located tumors in vivo after specific labeling achieved by conjugating of QDs with targeting molecules. In this work the possibilities of intravital tumor labeling with QDs and subsequent in vivo tumor imaging were estimated. The experiments were run on immunodeficient nu/nu mice bearing human breast carcinoma SKBR-3, overexpressing surface protein HER2/neu. We used quantum dots Qdot 705 ITK (Invitrogen, USA) linked to anti-HER2/neu 4D5 scFv antibody. Antibody scFv fragments as a targeting agent for directed delivery of fluorophores possess significant advantages over full-size antibodies due to their small size, lower cross-reactivity and immunogenicity. QDs were bound to 4D5 scFv by barnase-barstar system (bn-bst) analogous to the streptavidin-biotidin system. Whole-body images were obtained using diffuse fluorescence tomography (DFT) setup with low-frequency modulation and transilluminative configuration of scanning, created at the Institute of Applied Physics of RAS (Russia). DFT-results were confirmed ex vivo by confocal microscopy. We report the results of in vivo whole-body tumor imaging with QDs complexes as contrasting agents. Intravital images of QDs-labeled tumors were obtained using specific tumor cells targeting and fluorescence transilluminative imaging method, while "passive" QD-labeling failed to mark effectively the tumor.