Development of a novel iron oxide encapsulated prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeting nanoparticle as a dual-modality imaging probe for PET and MRI

Abstract

I tried to develop a multi-modality imaging probe for PET, MRI and PET/MR by encapsulation with specific amphiphiles using the original one-pot method developed by our study group. In this study, iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles were encapsulated with three amphiphiles containing PEG, DOTA and the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting ligand in aqueous medium. The diameter of the prepared nanoparticle DOTA-IO-GUL was 11.01 ± 1.54 nm. DOTA-IO-GUL was labeled with 68Ga in high efficiency. The DOTA-IO-GUL showed a dose-dependent binding to 22Rv1 (PSMA positive) cells via a competitive binding study against 125I-labeled MIP-1072 (PSMA-targeting agent). Additionally, PET and MR imaging results showed PSMA selective uptake by only 22Rv1 (PSMA positive) but not PC-3 (PSMA negative) in dual-tumor xenograft mouse model study. MR imaging showed high resolution, and PET imaging enabled quantification and confirmation of the specificity. In conclusion, I have developed the specific PSMA-targeting IO nanoparticle, DOTA-IO-GUL, as a multi-modality probe for complementary PET, MRI and PET/MR imaging. Additionally I could confirm the reproducibility and scalability of the original one-pot method.