Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: In vivo cation exchange in quantum dots for tumor-specific imaging

doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00153-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Breast tumor-specific imaging achieved by extravascular delivery of etchable ZHS-QDs. Mice bearing orthotopic MCF10CA1a human breast tumors received an intravenous injection of iRGD or PBS before an intravenous dose of ZHS-QDs. Ag-TS was given intraperitoneally. n = 4 per group. a The mice were anesthetized and imaged with a Li-Cor Pearl imager 40 min after etching. Arrows , tumors. b In situ NIR imaging of the mice after euthanasia and necropsy performed under deep anesthesia. c NIR images of collected tissues. d NIR signal per unit area in collected tissues ( left panel ) and T/Li ratio ( right panel ). B, brain; H, heart; Li, liver; S, spleen; Lu, lung; K, kidney; T, tumor. Statistics, two-way analysis of variance ( left panel ) or Student’s t -test ( right panel ); error bars , SEM; ns, not significant; * P < 0.05; *** P < 0.001. e Confocal micrographs of cultured MCF10CA1a cells treated with ZHS-QDs with or without free iRGD followed by etching with Ag-TS. Note that the QDs were internalized into the cells in the presence of iRGD, and that only the extracellular QDs were etched. Blue, Hoechst 33342; green, ZHS-QDs; scale bars , 50 μm. Insets show a magnified view of the boxed areas . f Epifluorescence micrographs of cultured PC-3 human prostate cancer cells treated with cell-penetrating QDs followed by etching with Ag-TS. PC-3 cells were incubated with CdSe/ZnS QDs coated with a cell-penetrating peptide KCDGRPARPAR. Only speckled peri-nuclear signals remain after etching. Scale bars , 50 µm. g The tumors shown in c were processed for immunofluorescence staining and subjected to confocal microscopy. Blue , DAPI; red , CD31 or α-SMA; green , ZHS-QDs; scale bars , 50 μm. The boxed area is magnified. Note that the QD signals are found in the perinuclear area of the cells

Article Snippet: Tissue sections were treated with 0.25% Triton X-100 for 10 min, washed with PBS 3 times, blocked with 1% bovine serum albumin for 1 h, and incubated with a rat anti-mouse CD31 primary antibody (Catalog number: 553370, BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA), rabbit anti-mouse α-SMA antibody (Product code: ab5694, Abcam, Cambridge, MA), or a rat anti-mouse ER-TR7 antibody (Catalog number: sc-73355, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX) at 4 °C overnight.

Techniques: Imaging, Injection, In Situ, Cell Culture, Incubation, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Confocal Microscopy

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: In vivo cation exchange in quantum dots for tumor-specific imaging

doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00153-y

Figure Lengend Snippet: Desmoplastic PDAC imaging with etchable ZHS-QDs. a H&E staining of orthotopic KRAS-Ink tumor tissue collected from mice. A mixed histology ranging from pancreas tissue with severe desmoplasia, high-grade PanIN, to full-blown PDAC is observed. n = 3, scale bars , 100 μm. b – e Mice bearing orthotopic KRAS-Ink PDAC tumors received intravenous injections of iRGD or PBS 25 min before ZHS-QD injection. Ag-TS was intravenously injected 30 min after the QD injection. n = 3 per group. NIR images of anesthetized mice b and collected tissues c . Arrows , tumors; dotted lines , tissues. B, brain; H, heart; Li, liver; S, spleen; Lu, lung; K, kidney; T, tumor. NIR signal per unit area in collected tissues ( left panel ) and T/Li ratio ( right panel ) d . Statistics, two-way analysis of variance ( left panel ) or Student’s t -test ( right panel ); error bars , SEM; ns, not significant; * P < 0.05; *** P < 0.001. Confocal micrographs of tumor sections e . Blue , DAPI; red , CD31, ER-TR7 or α-SMA; green , ZHS-QDs; scale bars , 50 μm; P stands for PanIN. Inset , an area with PanINs

Article Snippet: Tissue sections were treated with 0.25% Triton X-100 for 10 min, washed with PBS 3 times, blocked with 1% bovine serum albumin for 1 h, and incubated with a rat anti-mouse CD31 primary antibody (Catalog number: 553370, BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA), rabbit anti-mouse α-SMA antibody (Product code: ab5694, Abcam, Cambridge, MA), or a rat anti-mouse ER-TR7 antibody (Catalog number: sc-73355, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX) at 4 °C overnight.

Techniques: Imaging, Staining, Injection