Biophotonics: Novel RGD Peptide Dendrimeric Optical Contrast Agents for Imaging Tumor Angiogenesis

Washington University School Of Medicine, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

0119489 Achilefu The objective of the proposed research is to design, synthesize, and evaluate novel Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic acid (RGD) peptide-dye conjugates for optical imaging of tumor angiogenesis. This will be accomplished by targeting integrin receptors which are overexpressed in malignant tumors. The conjugation on near infrared carbocyanine dyes to integrin receptor-avid RGD peptides would yield novel tumor-specific optical contrast agents. The bioconjugates will be evaluated in vitro to determine their receptor binding affinity, and in vivo to compare the efficacy of integrin receptor-specific and nonspecific optical contrast agents. If successful, this research could develop new infrared fluorescent probes for cancer detection.