MR Reporter Gene Imaging of Endostatin Expression and Therapy

作者:Wang, Kai; Wang, Kezheng; Shen, Baozhong*; Huang, Tao; Sun, Xilin; Li, Weihua; Jin, Gang; Li, Lin; Bu, Lihong; Li, Renfei; Wang, Dan; Chen, Xiaoyuan
来源:Molecular Imaging and Biology, 2010, 12(5): 520-529.
DOI:10.1007/s11307-009-0286-0

摘要

The aim of this study is to monitor endostatin gene expression and therapy using transferrin receptor (TfR) as reporter gene and transferrin conjugate of ultrasmall supramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (Tf-USPIO) as magnetic resonance (MR) reporter probe. A retroviral plasmid (pLP-LNCX) encoding mouse endostatin and TfR was constructed, and packaged with a titer of 4 x 10(7)colony-forming units per millimeter. MDA-MB-231 breast tumors were established in BALB/c mice by subcutaneous injection of 2 x 10(6) MDA-MB-231 cells. Mice were intratumorally injected with recombinant retrovirus and imaged with MR using Tf-USPIO. Western blot, Prussian blue, and immunohistochemical staining were performed to validate the magnetic resonance imaging results. The antitumor effect of retro-endostatin (ES)-TfR was also evaluated by intratumoral injection of the viral vector. The expression of both endostatin and TfR genes in MDA-MB-231 cells after retroviral transfection was confirmed by Western blot and flow cytometry. Tf-USPIO conjugate binds specifically to cells stably transfected with retro-ES-TfR. After intravenous injection of the Tf-USPIO conjugate, there was a more pronounced decrease in T2 relaxation time in tumors treated with retro-ES-TfR than in tumors treated with empty retrovirus retro-LNCX. The expression of ES gene significantly delayed the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumor and reduction of microvessel density and VEGF level as compared to those without viral transfection or transfected with empty retro-LNCX vector. Endostatin therapeutic gene expression was visualized successfully using TfR reporter gene and Tf-USPIO MR reporter probe, which indicates that MR reporter gene imaging may be valuable in gene therapy to evaluate therapeutic gene expression and treatment efficacy.