Uncovering the Binding Specificities of Lectins with Cells for Precision Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis Based on Multimodal Imaging

There is a high desire for novel targets/biomarkers to diagnose and treat colorectal cancer (CRC). Here, an approach starting from a polyacrylamide hydrogel–based lectin microarray is presented to screen the high expression of glycans on the CRC cell surface and to identify new lectin biomarkers for CRC. Three common CRC cell lines (SW480, SW620, and HCT116) and one normal colon cell line (NCM460) are profiled on the microarray with 27 lectins. The experimental results reveal that CRC cells highly express the glycans with d‐galactose, d‐glucose, and/or sialic acid residues, and Uelx Europaeus Agglutinin‐I (UEA‐I) exhibits reasonable specificity with SW480 cells. After conjugation of UEA‐I with silica‐coated NaGdF(4):Yb(3+), Er(3+)@NaGdF(4) upconversion nanoparticles, the follow‐up in vitro and in vivo experiments provide further evidence on that UEA‐I can serve as tumor‐targeting molecule to diagnose SW480 tumor by multimodal imaging including upconversion luminescence imaging, T (1)‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging, and X‐ray computed tomography imaging.