An in vitro study on the detection of ovarian cancer using a novel pH-specific targeting polypyrrole nanocontrasting agent.

Abstract

Longitudinal tracking and accumulation of polymeric nanoparticles in the context of cancer has largely occurred through identification of a fluorescent cargo. In this study, we created a dual extracellular acidic pH targeted polypyrrole-based hollow nanoparticle as a theranostic (maintain both therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities) agent for improved detection and treatment of ovarian cancer. Polypyrrole-hollow nanospheres (PPy-CS)were fabricated through the removal of a silver chloride (AgCl) core, which served as a template, followed by coating with chitosan and further tumor targeted with a pH low insertion peptide, V7. We exploited the NIR-absorbing property of polypyrrole to track both the nanoparticle separately from its NIR-fluorescent cargo. Utilizing the absorbing properties of the PPy-CS which contained an IR-780 cargo, multispectral optoacoustic tracking of phantom-based models revealed that both polypyrrole and IR-780 were separately identified indicating both the presence of the nanomaterial and cargo dye. SUMMARY:In this study, a nanoparticle was developed to serve as means to enhance the cargo and actively target tumor environments with minimal off-targeting. The nanoparticle was placed in an optoacoustic tomographic imaging system to determine its ability to be tracked by the imaging system. The nanoparticle displayed signaling within the imaging system both with the infrared dye and alone.