PRESS RELEASE
- Research
- 2015
Hybrid Calcium Phosphate-Polymeric Micelles Incorporating Gadolinium Chelates for Imaging-Guided Gadolinium Neutron Capture Tumor Therapy
Authors
Peng Mi, Novriana Dewi, Hironobu Yanagie, Daisuke Kokuryo, Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinori Sakurai, Yanmin Li, Ichio Aoki, Koji Ono, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Horacio Cabral, Nobuhiro Nishiyama, and Kazunori KataokaGadolinium (Gd) chelates-loaded nanocarriers have high potential for achieving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided Gd neutron capture therapy (GdNCT) of tumors. Herein, we developed calcium phosphate micelles hybridized with PEG-polyanion block copolymers, and incorporated with the clinical MRI contrast agent Gd-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA/CaP). The Gd-DTPA/CaP were non-toxic to cancer cells at the concentration of 100 μM based on Gd-DTPA, while over 50% of the cancer cells were killed by thermal neutron irradiation at this concentration. Moreover, the Gd-DTPA/CaP showed a dramatically increased accumulation of Gd-DTPA in tumors, leading to the selective contrast enhancement of tumor tissues for precise tumor location by MRI. The enhanced tumor-to-blood distribution ratio of Gd-DTPA/CaP resulted in the effective suppression of tumor growth without loss of body weight, indicating the potential of Gd-DTPA/CaP for safe cancer treatment.
