Targeting HER2-breast tumors with scFv-decorated bimodal nanoprobes

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in nanomedicine have shown the great interest of active targeting associated to nanoparticles. Single chain variable fragments (scFv) of disease-specific antibodies are very promising targeting entities because they are small, not immunogenic and able to bind their specific antigens. The present paper is devoted to biological properties in vitro and in vivo of fluorescent and pegylated iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs-Cy-PEG-scFv) functionalized with scFv targeting Human Epithelial growth Receptor 2 (HER2). RESULTS: Thanks to a site-selective scFv conjugation, the resultant nanoprobes demonstrated high affinity and specific binding to HER2 breast cancer cells. The cellular uptake of SPIONs-Cy-PEG-scFv was threefold higher than that for untargeted PEGylated iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs-Cy-PEG) and is correlated to the expression of HER2 on cells. In vivo, the decrease of MR signals in HER2+ xenograft tumor is about 30% at 24 h after the injection. CONCLUSIONS: These results all indicate that SPIONs-Cy-PEG-scFv are relevant tumor-targeting magnetic resonance imaging agents, suitable for diagnosis of HER2 overexpressing breast tumor. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12951-018-0341-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.