TY - JOUR A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Mathejczyk, J.E. A1 - Brehm, Robert A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Gomes, F.R. A1 - Dullin, C. A1 - Napp, J. A1 - Alves, F. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Target-specific nanoparticles containing a broad band emissive NIR dye for the sensitive detection and characterization of tumor development JF - Biomaterials N2 - Current optical probes including engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are constructed from near infrared (NIR)-emissive organic dyes with narrow absorption and emission bands and small Stokes shifts prone to aggregation-induced self-quenching. Here, we present the new asymmetric cyanine Itrybe with broad, almost environment-insensitive absorption and emission bands in the diagnostic window, offering a unique flexibility of the choice of excitation and detection wavelengths compared to common NIR dyes. This strongly emissive dye was spectroscopically studied in different solvents and encapsulated into differently sized (15, 25, 100 nm) amino-modified polystyrene NPs (PSNPs) via a one-step staining procedure. As proof-of-concept for its potential for pre-/clinical imaging applications, Itrybe-loaded NPs were surface-functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the tumor-targeting antibody Herceptin and their binding specificity to the tumor-specific biomarker HER2 was systematically assessed. Itrybe-loaded NPs display strong fluorescence signals in vitro and in vivo and Herceptin-conjugated NPs bind specifically to HER2 as demonstrated in immunoassays as well as on tumor cells and sections from mouse tumor xenografts in vitro. This demonstrates that our design strategy exploiting broad band-absorbing and -emitting dyes yields versatile and bright NIR probes with a high potential for e.g. the sensitive detection and characterization of tumor development and progression. KW - Nanoparticle KW - Fluorescence KW - In vitro test KW - In vivo test KW - Surface modification KW - Cytotoxicity PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.09.028 SN - 0142-9612 VL - 34 IS - 1 SP - 160 EP - 170 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-26877 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -