Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Radiolabeled Nanoparticles Boost PET-CT Combo Imaging

Home > Press > Radiolabeled Nanoparticles Boost PET-CT Combo Imaging

Abstract:
In an attempt to decrease the amount of cancer-targeting nanoparticle needed to image tumors, a team of investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has developed a simple method for creating iron oxide nanoparticles labeled with 18F, a radioisotope that is easily detected using positron emission tomography (PET). The result is a nanoparticle that can be imaged using PET, computerized tomography (CT), and fluorescence imaging.

Radiolabeled Nanoparticles Boost PET-CT Combo Imaging

Bethesda, MD | Posted on February 24th, 2009

A research team headed by Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator of the MIT-Harvard University Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, reported the results of its work in the journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

Adding 18F to nanoparticles is a major challenge to the development of cancer probes that can be imaged using PET. Dr. Weissleder and his collaborators overcame this obstacle by using a novel chemical reaction known as "click chemistry." Click chemistry can add fluorine atoms to complex biomolecules or nanoparticles using very mild reaction conditions that do not damage biocompatible constructs. This reaction also proceeds quickly, an important consideration given that the half-life of 18F is only 110 minutes.

Initial tests with radiolabeled iron oxide nanoparticles showed that the detection limit using PET-CT imaging was about 200 times lower than is possible using magnetic resonance imaging, the standard method for detecting iron oxide nanoparticles in the body. The radiolabeled nanoparticle was easily detected using PET-CT when injected into mice. The researchers plan to add tumor-targeting molecules to this nanoparticle to tests its potential utility as a tumor-imaging agent.

####

About National Cancer Institute
The NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer is a comprehensive, systematized initiative encompassing the public and private sectors, designed to accelerate the application of the best capabilities of nanotechnology to cancer.

Currently, scientists are limited in their ability to turn promising molecular discoveries into benefits for cancer patients. Nanotechnology can provide the technical power and tools that will enable those developing new diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventives to keep pace with today’s explosion in knowledge.

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
National Cancer Institute
Office of Technology & Industrial Relations
ATTN: NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer
Building 31, Room 10A49
31 Center Drive , MSC 2580
Bethesda , MD 20892-2580

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark: