Trastuzumab Polyethylene Glycol Modified Gold Nanoparticle As Potential Targeted Contrast Agent in Molecular CTIimaging of Cancer Cells

Authors

1 Tabriz University of Medical Sciences*

2 Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

10.22034/icrj.2023.179487

Abstract

Purpose: The development of different effective multifunctional nano-probes for efficient targeted molecular imaging of tumors has presents a great challenge in medicine.
Methods: Herein, we reported the in-vitro targeting of Trastuzumab (TZ) multifunctional Fe3O4 coated gold nanoparticles (Fe3O4@Au NPs) through Polyethylene glycol (PEG) linking for targeted tumor molecular computed tomography (CT) imaging method. The prepared multifunctional PEG-TZ conjugated Fe3O4@Au NPs (TZ-PEG- Fe3O4@Au NPs) were fully characterized via different procedures. MTT, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) assays were used to evaluate the cytocompatibility of the synthesized NPs.
Results: The findings showed that the synthesized TZ-PEG-Fe3O4@Au NPs, which have a size of less than 100 nm and are non-cytoxic at a specific concentration range, exhibit better X-ray attenuation intensity than iodine-based contrast agents at the same concentration. When compared to iodine at a concentration of 2000 g/ml, TZ-PEG-Fe3O4@Au NPs permit around 1.6 times more contrast per unit mass at 80 kVp. The created targeted NPs can be employed as a contrast agent for in vitro targeted CT imaging of cancer cells expressing the HER-2 receptor. At 80 kVp, the targeted cells’ CT values were higher than those of untargeted cells.