Development of Halofluorochromic Polymer Nanoassemblies for the Potential Detection of Liver Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Tumors Using Experimental and Computational Approaches

Derek Reichel, Louis T. Curtis, Elizabeth Ehlman, B. Mark Evers, Piotr Rychahou, Hermann B. Frieboes, Younsoo Bae

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: To develop polymer nanoassemblies (PNAs) modified with halofluorochromic dyes to allow for the detection of liver metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) to improve therapeutic outcomes. Methods: We combine experimental and computational approaches to evaluate macroscopic and microscopic PNA distributions in patient-derived xenograft primary and orthotropic liver metastatic CRC tumors. Halofluorochromic and non-halofluorochromic PNAs (hfPNAs and n-hfPNAs) were prepared from poly(ethylene glycol), fluorescent dyes (Nile blue, Alexa546, and IR820), and hydrophobic groups (palmitate), all of which were covalently tethered to a cationic polymer scaffold [poly(ethylene imine) or poly(lysine)] forming particles with an average diameter < 30 nm. Results: Dye-conjugated PNAs showed no aggregation under opsonizing conditions for 24 h and displayed low tissue diffusion and cellular uptake. Both hfPNAs and n-hfPNAs accumulated in primary and liver metastatic CRC tumors within 12 h post intravenous injection. In comparison to n-hfPNAs, hfPNAs fluoresced strongly only in the acidic tumor microenvironment (pH < 7.0) and distinguished small metastatic CRC tumors from healthy liver stroma. Computational simulations revealed that PNAs would steadily accumulate mainly in acidic (hypoxic) interstitium of metastatic tumors, independently of the vascularization degree of the tissue surrounding the lesions. Conclusion: The combined experimental and computational data confirms that hfPNAs detecting acidic tumor tissue can be used to identify small liver metastatic CRC tumors with improved accuracy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2385-2402
Number of pages18
JournalPharmaceutical Research
Volume34
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Kentucky Graduate School Allocated Year (GSAY) Fellowship (DR) and the National Institutes of Health grant R01CA195573 (BME and PR). HBF acknowledges partial support by the National Institutes of Health /National Cancer Institute (R15CA203605).

FundersFunder number
GSAY
University of Kentucky Graduate School Allocated Year
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Childhood Cancer Registry – National Cancer InstituteR15CA203605, R01CA195573

    Keywords

    • computational tumor simulation
    • nanoparticle distribution simulation
    • theranostics
    • tissue acidity
    • tumor microenvironment

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biotechnology
    • Molecular Medicine
    • Pharmacology
    • Pharmaceutical Science
    • Organic Chemistry
    • Pharmacology (medical)

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