Tumor vasculature targeting and imaging in living mice with reduced graphene oxide

Graphene-based nanomaterials have attracted tremendous attention in the field of biomedicine due to their intriguing properties. Herein, we report tumor vasculature targeting and imaging in living mice using reduced graphene oxide (RGO), which was conjugated to the anti-CD105 antibody TRC105. The RGO conjugate, 64Cu–NOTA–RGO–TRC105, exhibited excellent stability in vitro and in vivo. Serial positron emission tomography (PET) imaging studies non-invasively assessed the pharmacokinetics and demonstrated specific targeting of 64Cu–NOTA–RGO–TRC105 to 4T1 murine breast tumors in vivo, compared to non-targeted RGO conjugate (64Cu–NOTA–RGO). In vivo (e.g., blocking 4T1 tumor uptake with excess TRC105), in vitro (e.g., flow cytometry), and ex vivo (e.g., histology) experiments confirmed the specificity of 64Cu–NOTA–RGO–TRC105 for tumor vascular CD105. Since RGO exhibits desirable properties for photothermal therapy, the tumor-specific RGO conjugate developed in this work may serve as a promising theranostic agent that integrates imaging and therapeutic components.