Nanoparticle-based materials, such as drug delivery vehicles and diagnostic probes, currently under evaluation in oncology clinical trials are largely not tumor selective. To be clinically successful, the next generation of nanoparticle agents should be tumor selective, nontoxic, and exhibit favorable targeting and clearance profiles. Developing probes meeting these criteria is challenging, requiring comprehensive in vivo evaluations. Here, we describe our full characterization of an approximately 7-nm diameter multimodal silica nanoparticle, exhibiting what we believe to be a unique combination of structural, optical, and biological properties. This ultrasmall cancer-selective silica particle was recently approved for a first-in-human clinical trial. Optimized for efficient renal clearance, it concurrently achieved specific tumor targeting. Dye-encapsulating particles, surface functionalized with cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic acid peptide ligands and radioiodine, exhibited high-affinity/avidity binding, favorable tumor-to-blood residence time ratios, and enhanced tumor-selective accumulation in α v β 3 integrin-expressing melanoma xenografts in mice. Further, the sensitive, real-time detection and imaging of lymphatic drainage patterns, particle clearance rates, nodal metastases, and differential tumor burden in a large-animal model of melanoma highlighted the distinct potential advantage of this multimodal platform for staging metastatic disease in the clinical setting.

We developed mice with germline endogenous expression of oncogenic Hras to study effects on development and mechanisms of tumor initiation. They had high perinatal mortality, abnormal cranial dimensions, defective dental ameloblasts, and nasal septal deviation, consistent with some of the features of human Costello syndrome. These mice developed papillomas and angiosarcomas, which were associated with Hras G12V allelic imbalance and augmented Hras signaling. Endogenous expression of Hras G12V was also associated with a higher mutation rate in vivo. Tumor initiation by Hras G12V likely requires augmentation of signal output, which in papillomas and angiosarcomas is achieved via increased Hras-gene copy number, which may be favored by a higher mutation frequency in cells expressing the oncoprotein.allele copy number ͉ angiosarcoma ͉ Costello syndrome ͉ papilloma ͉ senescence

BackgroundThe positron-emitting radionuclide 89Zr (t 1/2 = 3.17 days) was used to prepare 89Zr-radiolabeled trastuzumab for use as a radiotracer for characterizing HER2/neu-positive breast tumors. In addition, pharmacodynamic studies on HER2/neu expression levels in response to therapeutic doses of PU-H71 (a specific inhibitor of heat-shock protein 90 [Hsp90]) were conducted.Methodology/Principal FindingsTrastuzumab was functionalized with desferrioxamine B (DFO) and radiolabeled with [89Zr]Zr-oxalate at room temperature using modified literature methods. ImmunoPET and biodistribution experiments in female, athymic nu/nu mice bearing sub-cutaneous BT-474 (HER2/neu positive) and/or MDA-MB-468 (HER2/neu negative) tumor xenografts were conducted. The change in 89Zr-DFO-trastuzumab tissue uptake in response to high- and low-specific-activity formulations and co-administration of PU-H71 was evaluated by biodistribution studies, Western blot analysis and immunoPET. 89Zr-DFO-trastuzumab radiolabeling proceeded in high radiochemical yield and specific-activity 104.3±2.1 MBq/mg (2.82±0.05 mCi/mg of mAb). In vitro assays demonstrated >99% radiochemical purity with an immunoreactive fraction of 0.87±0.07. In vivo biodistribution experiments revealed high specific BT-474 uptake after 24, 48 and 72 h (64.68±13.06%ID/g; 71.71±10.35%ID/g and 85.18±11.10%ID/g, respectively) with retention of activity for over 120 h. Pre-treatment with PU-H71 was followed by biodistribution studies and immunoPET of 89Zr-DFO-trastuzumab. Expression levels of HER2/neu were modulated during the first 24 and 48 h post-administration (29.75±4.43%ID/g and 41.42±3.64%ID/g, respectively). By 72 h radiotracer uptake (73.64±12.17%ID/g) and Western blot analysis demonstrated that HER2/neu expression recovered to baseline levels.Conclusions/SignificanceThe results indicate that 89Zr-DFO-trastuzumab provides quantitative and highly-specific delineation of HER2/neu positive tumors, and has potential to be used to measure the efficacy of long-term treatment with Hsp90 inhibitors, like PU-H71, which display extended pharmacodynamic profiles.

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a fatal disease for most patients. We have found that ferumoxytol (Feraheme®), a FDA approved iron oxide nanoparticle for iron deficiency treatment, demonstrates an anti-leukaemia effect in vitro and in vivo. Using leukaemia cell lines and primary AML patient samples, we show that low expression of the iron exporter ferroportin (FPN) results in a susceptibility of these cells by an increase in intracellular iron from ferumoxytol. The reactive oxygen species produced by free ferrous iron leads to increased oxidative stress and cell death. Ferumoxytol treatment results in a significant reduction of disease burden in a murine leukaemia model and patient-derived xenotransplants (PDX) bearing leukaemia cells with low FPN expression. Our findings show how a clinical nanoparticle considered previously largely biologically inert could be rapidly incorporated into clinical trials for patients with leukaemia with low FPN levels.

Chelator-free nanoparticles for intrinsic radiolabeling are highly desirable for whole-body imaging and therapeutic applications. Several reports have successfully demonstrated the principle of intrinsic radiolabeling. However, the work done to date has suffered from much of the same specificity issues as conventional molecular chelators, insofar as there is no singular nanoparticle substrate that has proven effective in binding a wide library of radiosotopes. Here we present amorphous silica nanoparticles as general substrates for chelator-free radiolabeling, and demonstrate their ability to bind six medically relevant isotopes of various oxidation states with high radiochemical yield. We provide strong evidence that the stability of the binding correlates with the hardness of the radioisotope, corroborating the proposed operating principle. Intrinsically labeled silica nanoparticles prepared by this approach demonstrate excellent in vivo stability and efficacy in lymph node tracking.