Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
11-21-2014
Abstract
We have developed an improved tool for imaging acidic tumors by reporting the insertion of a transmembrane helix: the pHLIP-Fluorescence Insertion REporter (pHLIP-FIRE). In acidic tissues, such as tumors, peptides in the pHLIP family insert as α-helices across cell membranes. The cell-inserting end of the pHLIP-FIRE peptide has a fluorophore-fluorophore or fluorophore-quencher pair. A pair member is released by disulfide cleavage after insertion into the reducing environment inside a cell, resulting in dequenching of the probe. Thus, the fluorescence of the pHLIP-FIRE probe is enhanced upon cell-insertion in the targeted tissues but is suppressed elsewhere due to quenching. Targeting studies in mice bearing breast tumors show strong signaling by pHLIP-FIRE, with a contrast index of ∼17, demonstrating (i) direct imaging of pHLIP insertion and (ii) cargo translocation in vivo. Imaging and targeted cargo delivery should each have clinical applications.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
ACS Chemical Biology
Volume
9
Issue
11
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Karabadzhak, Alexander G., Ming An, Lan Yao, Rachel Langenbacher, Anna Moshnikova, Ramona Cosmina Adochite, Oleg A. Andreev, Yana K. Reshetnyak, and Donald M. Engelman. "PHLIP-FIRE, a cell insertion-triggered fluorescent probe for imaging tumors demonstrates targeted cargo delivery in vivo." ACS Chemical Biology 9, 11 (2014): 2545-2553. doi: 10.1021/cb500388m.