Abstract 3686: Antibody-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes for detection and selective destruction of breast and pancreas cancer cells

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Vol. 70; no. 8_Supplement; p. 3686
• Main Authors: Xiao, Yan, Gao, Xiugong, Cheung, William, Urbas, Aaron, Taratula, Oleh, Holbrook, David, Cavicchi, Richard E., Souchek, Joshua J., Wagner, Paul D., Srivastava, Sudhir, Avedisian, Thomas, He, Huixin, Batra, Surinder
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 15.04.2010
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM10-3686

Abstract Nanocarrier-based antibody targeting is a promising modality in therapeutic and diagnostic oncology. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) exhibit two unique optical properties that can be exploited for such applications, i.e., strong Raman signal for cancer cell detection and near-infrared (NIR) absorbance for selective photothermal ablation of tumors. In the present study, we constructed a HER2 IgY-SWNT complex and a MUC4 IgG-SWNT complex, and demonstrated in vitro their dual functionality for both detection and selective destruction of breast and pancreas cancer cells. The two complexes were constructed by covalently conjugating carboxylated SWNTs with anti-HER2 chicken polyclonal IgY antibody and with anti-MUC4 mouse monoclonal IgG antibody, respectively. Raman signals were recorded on a Raman spectrometer with a laser excitation at 785 nm. NIR irradiation was performed using a diode laser system, and cells with or without nanotube treatment were irradiated by 808 nm laser at 50 W/cm2 for 5 min. Cell viability was examined by calcein AM/ethidium homodimer-1 (EthD-1) staining. Immunohistochemical studies showed that HER2 IgY-SWNT complex specifically targeted receptor-expressing SK-BR-3 cells but not receptor-negative MCF-7 cells; MUC4 IgG-SWNT complex specifically targeted pancreatic cancer cells but not normal pancreas cells. Using a Raman optical microscope, we found the Raman signal collected at single-cell level from the complex-treated breast or pancreatic cancer cells was significantly greater than that from various control cells. NIR irradiation selectively destroyed the complex-targeted breast and pancreatic cancer cells without harming receptor-free cells. The death rate after NIR irradiation were 94.1% and 96.6% respectively for complex-treated breast and pancreatic cancer cells, but only 1.3% and 1.8% for the untreated controls of the two cancer cell types, respectively. These results demonstrated that the antibody-SWNT complexes have the potential to detect cancer cells at the early stages of tumor development. In addition, the complexes are potentially useful for selectively killing cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. Thus, the unique intrinsic properties of SWNTs combined with high specificity and sensitivity of antibodies can lead to new strategies for cancer detection and therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3686.