Figure 7
The peptides home to specific tumors in vivo.
(A). NOD/SCID mice bearing either dual H2009 and H460 xenografts or dual H1299 and H460 xenografts were injected via tail vein with 30–53 μg of one near-infrared dye labeled tetrameric peptide. The H2009.1 peptide was injected into mice bearing dual H2009 and H460 tumors while the H460.1, HCC15.1, acetylated HCC15.2 and acetylated H1299.2 peptides were injected individually into mice bearing dual H1299 and H460 tumors. At 24 hours after peptide injection, each mouse was imaged for dye fluorescence using a LI-COR Pearl Impulse. Immediately afterwards, the mice were sacrificed for ex vivo imaging of organs (heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, lung and tumors). Ex vivo imaging of the tumors and organs revealed significant clearance through kidney for all peptides tested. With the kidney removed from the plate, imaging identifies accumulation in the expected tumor type with additional clearance in the liver. The intensity scale has been optimized for each animal experiment. Pseudocolor scales are shown to the right of each panel. (B). The distribution of peptide accumulation in individual animals is shown. Groups were compared to the target tumor vs. other tissue using an unpaired t-test. ** P 0.001–0.01, * P < 0.01–0.05.
