Wei Chen1, Peter Jarzyna1, Geralda A.F. von Tilborg2, Van anh Nguyen3, Gwendalyn J. Randolph3, Edward A. Fisher4, Willem J.M. Mulder1, Zahi A. Fayad1
1Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Imaging Science Laboratories, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 2Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands; 3Department of Gene and Cell Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 4Marc and Ruti Bell Vascular Biology and Disease Program, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
The uptake of reconstituted high density lipoprotein (rHDL) and rHDL functionalized with α;vb3-specific RGD peptides (rHDL-RGD) were examined in vitro using cultured macrophages and endothelial cells. It was observed that rHDL was phagocytosed by macrophages, while α;vb3-specific rHDL-RGD nanoparticles were preferentially taken up by endothelial cells. The uptake of both particles in mouse tumors was evaluated in vivo using NIR and MR imaging. Both rHDL and rHDL-RGD accumulated in tumors, be it with different accumulation kinetics. In conclusion we have shown the versatility of the rHDL nanoparticle platform and its potential for multimodality imaging of tumor associated processes.