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Identification of LRG1 targeting peptide and its application in targeted imaging for breast cancer

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Abstract

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women worldwide, emphasizing the urgent need for enhanced diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Leucine-rich-alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) has emerged as a notable target due to its markedly elevated expression in breast tumors, suggesting the viability of LRG1 as a theranostic target. In our study, we employed phage display technology to identify a peptide, termed ET, that binds to LRG1 with a dissociation constant of 48.4 µM. After modified with fluorescent cyanine dye, the ET peptide showcased effective tumor-targeting imaging across three different primary breast tumor models and a metastatic breast tumor model. We also undertook a comprehensive safety evaluation, which verified the good biosafety credentials of ET peptide. In summary, the ET peptide identified in this study shows effective LRG1-targeting ability both in vitro and in vivo, thus exhibiting immense potential for clinical translation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Bing Jiang (Zhengzhou University) for assistance with the fluorescence imaging. The authors also thank the center of Advanced Analysis & Gene Sequencing, Zhengzhou University for technical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 32000998 and 32201240). The Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by Henan Association for Science and Technology (No. 2022HYTP046) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021TQ0298), and Science and Technology Development Project of Henan Province (Nos. 222102310525, 232102310351), and National College Students’ innovation and entrepreneurship training program (No. 202310459197).

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Author notes

  1. Mengdie Chen and Anying Zhu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Mengdie Chen, Anying Zhu, Furong Zhu, Ziwen Lei, Shengnan Du, Huan Min & Yingqiu Qi

  2. Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450008, China

    Mengdie Chen, Huan Min & Yingqiu Qi

  3. Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China

    Anying Zhu

  4. Department of Breast Disease, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University & Henan Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China

    Tao Huang

  5. CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China

    Dongdong Wang & Xiaoyu Zhang

  6. CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety & CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China, 11 Beiyitiao, Zhongguancun, Beijing, 100190, China

    Guangjun Nie

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  1. Mengdie Chen
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiaoyu Zhang, Huan Min or Yingqiu Qi.

Ethics declarations

Yingqiu Qi, Mengdie Chen, and Huan Min et al. have filed a patent application based on this work. In accordance with the Zhengzhou University procedures and our ethical obligations as researchers, we report that ET is named on patents that describe the targeting peptide exhibited a binding affinity to LRG1. Cy5-ET is also named on patents describing the probe of tumor targeting, and application for peptide drug conjugate and tumor therapy. We have disclosed those interests fully to the University of Zhengzhou, and we have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from licensing of our patents. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

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12274_2023_6268_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Electronic Supplementary Material: Identification of LRG1 targeting peptide and its application in targeted imaging for breast cancer

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Cite this article

Chen, M., Zhu, A., Zhu, F. et al. Identification of LRG1 targeting peptide and its application in targeted imaging for breast cancer. Nano Res. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6268-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6268-8

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