Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Sci Adv. 2020 Feb 5;6(6):eaax6040. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax6040. eCollection 2020 Feb.
Nerve density is associated with prostate cancer (PCa) aggressiveness and prognosis. Thus far, no visualization methods have been developed to assess nerve density of PCa in vivo. We compounded propranolol-conjugated superparamagnetic iron oxide nerve peptide nanoparticles (PSN NPs), which achieved the nerve density visualization of PCa with high sensitivity and high specificity, and facilitated assessment of nerve density and aggressiveness of PCa using magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic particle imaging. Moreover, PSN NPs facilitated targeted therapy for PCa. PSN NPs increased the survival rate of mice with orthotopic PCa to 83.3% and decreased nerve densities and proliferation indexes by more than twofold compared with the control groups. The present study, thus, developed a technology to visualize the nerve density of PCa and facilitate targeted neural drug delivery to tumors to efficiently inhibit PCa progression. Our study provides a potential basis for clinical imaging and therapeutic interventions targeting nerves in PCa.
神经密度与前列腺癌（PCa）的侵袭性和预后相关。迄今为止，尚无可视化方法可用于评估 PCa 中的神经密度。我们合成了结合了普萘洛尔的超顺磁性氧化铁神经肽纳米颗粒（PSN NPs），其实现了对 PCa 神经密度的高灵敏度和高特异性可视化，有助于使用磁共振成像和磁粒子成像评估 PCa 的神经密度和侵袭性。此外，PSN NPs 促进了 PCa 的靶向治疗。PSN NPs 将荷瘤 PCa 小鼠的存活率提高至 83.3%，与对照组相比，神经密度和增殖指数降低了两倍以上。本研究因此开发了一种可视化 PCa 神经密度的技术，并促进了靶向神经药物输送到肿瘤，从而有效地抑制 PCa 的进展。我们的研究为针对 PCa 中的神经的临床成像和治疗干预提供了潜在的基础。
