Abstract
Enhanced vascular permeability in tumors plays an essential role in nanoparticle delivery. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is overexpressed on the epithelium of aggressive prostate cancers (PCs). Here, we evaluated the feasibility of increasing the delivery of PSMA-targeted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to tumors by enhancing vascular permeability in PSMA(+) PC tumors with PSMA-targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT). Method: PSMA(+) PC3 PIP tumor-bearing mice were given a low-molecular-weight PSMA-targeted photosensitizer and treated with fluorescence image-guided PDT, 4 h after. The mice were then given a PSMA-targeted MNP immediately after PDT and monitored with fluorescence imaging and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T2-W MRI) 18 h, 42 h, and 66 h after MNP administration. Untreated PSMA(+) PC3 PIP tumor-bearing mice were used as negative controls. Results: An 8-fold increase in the delivery of the PSMA-targeted MNPs was detected using T2-W MRI in the pretreated tumors 42 h after PDT, compared to untreated tumors. Additionally, T2-W MRIs revealed enhanced peripheral intra-tumoral delivery of the PSMA-targeted MNPs. That finding is in keeping with two-photon microscopy, which revealed higher vascular densities at the tumor periphery. Conclusion: These results suggest that PSMA-targeted PDT enhances the delivery of PSMA-targeted MNPs to PSMA(+) tumors by enhancing the vascular permeability of the tumors.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 182-196 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Nanotheranostics |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- Enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect
- Magnetic nanoparticle delivery
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Photodynamic therapy (PDT)
- Prostate cancer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous)