Dual-Effect of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reporter Gene in Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

PROPOSE: The early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with ferritin heavy chain (Fth) modified by alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) promoter has been studied. However, no study has focused on the considerable upregulation and specific targeting effects of transferrin receptors (TfR) caused by the transfection of plasmids encoded with the AFP promoter. Thus, the objective of our study was to investigate whether the transfection of Fth gene modified with AFP promoter (AFP@Fth) could be used for early diagnosis and enhanced treatment of HCC. METHODS: The AFP@Fth plasmid was transfected into AFP positive cells. The expression of intracellular Ferritin was verified by Western blot, and the upregulation of TfR was confirmed by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry analysis. Cellular iron accumulation resulting in decreased imaging signals was examined by magnetic resonance imagining. Doxorubicin liposome modified with transferrin (Tf-LPD) was prepared to investigate the efficiency of the subsequent treatment after transfection. The enhanced drug distribution and effects were investigated both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: Both Ferritin and TfR were overexpressed after transfection. The transfected cells showed higher intracellular iron accumulation and resulted in a lower MR T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) intensity, suggesting that the transfection of AFP@Fth could be a potential strategy for early diagnosis of liver cancer. The following treatment efficacy was revealed by Tf-LPD. As compared with un-transfected cells, transfected cells exhibited higher uptake of transferrin-modified liposomes (Tf-LP), which was due to the specific interaction between Tf and TfR overexpressed on the transfected cells. This is also the reason why Tf-LPD showed better in vitro and in vivo anticancer ability than doxorubicin loaded liposome (LPD). These results suggested that transfection of AFP@Fth could result in enhanced therapy of liver cancer. CONCLUSION: Transfection of AFP@Fth could be used for early diagnosis and for enhanced treatment of live cancers.