In Vitro Evaluation of Gd3+-Anionic Linear Globular Dendrimer-Monoclonal Antibody: Potential Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents for Prostate Cancer Cell Imaging

Purpose: Early stage prostate cancer diagnosis is of high global interest. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive modality for early cancer diagnosis, in particular for prostate cancer detection. The research aim is to synthesize a nanodendrimer and its conjugate with C595 monoclonal antibody (mAb C595), against prostate cancer, followed by its chelating with Gd3+. Procedures: Anti-MUC-1 mAb C595 was conjugated to an anionic linear globular dendrimer (ALGDG2). The polyethylene glycol core and citric acid shell were synthesized followed by loading with Gd3+ to make novel contrast agents for functional MRI. The in vitro behavior and MRI parameters of the nanoconjugate were investigated performing several studies such as cell toxicity and TNF-alpha evaluations. The investigation of magnetic resonance imaging parameters indicated how well nanoconjugate performs in 1H-NMR and 17O-NMR in vitro. Results: Results showed a potential specific MRI activity by improving the swelling responses cell binding. The MTT (2-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-3,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) assay demonstrated that this contrast agent had significant cytotoxicity on prostate cancer cells. Conclusions: These results showed that Gd3+-ALGDG2-C595 is a potential prostate molecular imaging agent and could be considered as an ideal functional nanoprobe. Additionally, further investigations by clinical trials are in the pipeline. © 2015, World Molecular Imaging Society