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Representative Research Publications

2017 > Representative Research Publications > Research Results Home

Development of an Optical Imaging Diagnostic Probe Targeting Hepatocarcinoma Cells

  • Biomaterials / 2017 April
  • Hong, Kwan Soo (corresponding author)

Study Summary

The present study developed an optical imaging diagnostic probe that can effectively detect abnormal cells in the liver, thereby laying the foundation for real-time optical imaging-based diagnosis of hepatic cancer cells and metastasis within the liver.

Our team developed a smart optical imaging diagnostic probe DCDHF-β gal; upon reaction with β-galactosidase overexpressed in various cancer cells, the fluorescence of DCDHF-β gal increases and its maximum fluorescence emission range changes from 615 nm to 665 nm.

Previously developed substances targeting β-galactosidase have limitations in producing effective targeted images due to their limited tissue penetration and low intracellular delivery. In contrast, DCDHF-β developed in the present study is a low-molecular-weight substance with a ligand that binds ASGPR receptors on the surface of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and thus can penetrate deep into the cells. The DCDHF-β gal that has penetrated the target cells then reacts with the intracellular β-galactosidase and emits a fluorescent signal within the near-infrared (NIR) range.

In optical imaging diagnostics, the NIR range is known to be the most effective range that can minimize the loss of fluorescence due to the hemoglobin and water inside the body. In the present study, the probe was intravenously injected into a mouse model bearing a xenograft of a human hepatocellular carcinoma line (HepG2), and selective increases in fluorescence according to the level of expression of β-galactosidase were confirmed using in vivo optical imaging and tissue fluorescence imaging, thus verifying that the probe can be applied in vivo.

Expected Effects

The optical imaging probe DCDHF-β gal developed in the present study is expected to have applications in the diagnosis of early-stage hepatocarcinoma or hepatic metastasis since it can effectively detect β-galactosidase within hepatocellular carcinoma cells in a concentration-dependent manner.

[Figure 1] In vivo optical imaging system used in the study [Figure 1] In vivo optical imaging system used in the study

[Figure 2] Intracellular signaling of DCDHF-β gal and the mechanism of its reaction with β-galactosidase (left), Target diagnosis in a mouse model (right)[Figure 2] Intracellular signaling of DCDHF-β gal and the mechanism of its reaction with β-galactosidase (left), Target diagnosis in a mouse model (right)

Title Page of the Published Paper (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cmdc.201700205/full)

Title Page of the Published Paper

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