Ultrasensitive near-infrared Raman reporters for SERS-based in vivo cancer detection

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201007841

Of good report: Synthesis and screening of an 80-member tricarbocyanine library identified CyNAMLA-381 as a near-IR surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) reporter with good signal stability and higher sensitivity than the standard. Encapsulation of CyNAMLA-381 on gold nanoparticles and conjugation to an antibody afforded SERS nanotags with excellent sensitivity, stability, and tumor specificity in xenograft models (see picture). Copyright

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.201007841

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201007841
SERS Reporters
Ultrasensitive Near-Infrared Raman Reporters for SERS-Based
In Vivo Cancer Detection**
Animesh Samanta, Kaustabh Kumar Maiti, Kiat-Seng Soh, Xiaojun Liao, Marc Vendrell,
U. S. Dinish, Seong-Wook Yun, Ramaswamy Bhuvaneswari, Hyori Kim, Shashi Rautela,
Junho Chung, Malini Olivo, and Young-Tae Chang*
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has recently
emerged as an alternative to fluorescence-based spectroscopy
in bioimaging, as it can minimize photobleaching, peak
overlapping, and low signal-to-noise ratio in complex biolog-
ical systems.[1–3] SERS probes are based on the 1014–1016-fold
scattering enhancement caused by the proximity of Raman-
active signature molecules to the surface of metal nano-
particles (NPs),[4–7] which can be modulated with molecular
recognition motifs to render diagnostic tools for optical
imaging and therapeutic studies.[8–12] However, the prepara-
tion of ultrasensitive SERS probes is hampered by the limited
availability, sensitivity, and reproducibility of Raman-active
compounds. This drawback is particularly important at the
near-infrared (NIR) region, where the availability of report-
ers is restricted to a few Raman-active molecules. Herein, we
report the first combinatorial approach to discover novel and
highly sensitive NIR SERS reporters. The synthesis and
screening of an 80-member tricarbocyanine library led to the
identification of CyNAMLA-381 as a NIR SERS reporter
with 12-fold higher sensitivity than the standard 3,3’-diethyl-
thiatricarbocyanine (DTTC), and we validated its advantages
for the construction of ultrasensitive in vivo SERS probes.
A major bottleneck in SERS probe discovery is the
development of highly sensitive Raman reporters. Most of the
commonly used Raman signature molecules are active in the
UV/Vis range (e.g., crystal violet, malachite green isothio-
cyanate, rhodamine-6G, Nile blue, 2-napthalenethiol, TRITC
(tetramethylrhodamine-5-isothiocyanate), and XRITC (X-
rhodamine-5-(and-6)-isothiocyanate), and thus have
a
restricted potential for in vivo imaging.[13–16] The adequacy
of the NIR region for in vivo studies has raised the interest in
NIR surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy
(SERRS)-active molecules. Although the cyanine derivative
DTTC has been regarded as a standard in NIR SERRS
studies,[9] it shows only a moderate Raman intensity, which
limits the preparation of highly sensitive probes for in vivo
applications.[17,18]
Since little is known about the correlation between the
cyanine scaffold and its Raman intensity, we designed a
library of structurally diverse tricarbocyanines with the aim of
discovering novel NIR SERRS-active compounds that sur-
pass the sensitivity of DTTC. The tricarbocyanine core is an
accessible NIR structure, the central chlorine atom of which
can be replaced with different nucleophiles.[19] We designed
the synthesis of tricarbocyanine derivatives by substitution
with different amines, and acetylated the resulting alkyl- or
benzylamino groups to obtain compounds with NIR absorp-
tion properties and good chemical stability in aqueous media
(CyNA).[20] To prepare compounds that could be chemisorbed
on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs),[21] we prepared the scaffold 1
with an aminopropyl linker that could be later coupled to a
disulfide-containing lipoic acid spacer (Scheme 1).
The amine group of 1 was Boc-protected prior to the
derivatization of the central chlorine atom with 80 structurally
different primary amines including heterocyclic, alkyl, and
aromatic groups (for structures, see Chart S1 in the Support-
ing Information). After acetylation, the compounds were
treated with an optimized TFA/dichloromethane (1:9) solu-
tion that overcame the lability of the tricarbocyanine core in
acidic conditions.[22] The final coupling to a lipoic acid-
activated ester resin yielded 80 derivatives (CyNAMLA) with
an average purity of 90% (for data of HPLC-determined
purities, see Table S1 in the Supporting Information).
[*] A. Samanta, X. Liao, Prof. Y. T. Chang
Department of Chemistry & MedChem Program of Life Sciences
Institute, National University of Singapore
117543 Singapore (Singapore)
Fax: (+65)6779-1691
E-mail: chmcyt@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://ytchang.science.nus.edu.sg
Dr. K. K. Maiti, K. S. Soh, Dr. M. Vendrell, Dr. U. S. Dinish,
Dr. S. W. Yun, S. Rautela, Prof. M. Olivo, Prof. Y. T. Chang
Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Agency for Science, Technology,
and Research (A*STAR)
138667 Singapore (Singapore)
R. Bhuvaneswari, Prof. M. Olivo
Division of Medical Sciences, National Cancer Centre
169610 Singapore (Singapore)
H. Kim, Prof. J. Chung
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and School of
Medicine & Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University
110799 Seoul (Republic of Korea)
Prof. M. Olivo
School of Physics, National University of Ireland
Galway (Ireland)
[**] We gratefully acknowledge the National University of Singapore
(NUS) (Young Investigator Award: R-143-000-353-123) and the
A*STAR Cross Council Office (CCO), Singapore (Grant
CCOGA02_005_2008) for financial support. SERS=surface-
enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
CyNAMLA compounds proved to be remarkably NIR-
active with absorbance maximum wavelengths around 800 nm
(Table S1 in the Supporting Information). Their SERS
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201007841.
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ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
6089

Communications
exhibited very high SERS intensities that exceeded the
signal of DTTC, and were selected for further analysis.
The encapsulation of SERS-active NPs is a crucial step
because it can prevent their aggregation and the desorption of
Raman signature molecules from the NPs, and it can be used
to introduce functional groups on their surface for bioconju-
gation.[24–27] To evaluate the long-term stability of the six
selected CyNAMLA–AuNPs, we modified them with bovine
serum albumin (BSA) and glutaraldehyde so that amine-
containing molecules (antibodies) could be attached to the
resulting cross-linked organic layer on the surface
(Scheme 2).[28]
Scheme 1. Synthesis of lipoic acid-containing amine acetylated tricar-
bocyanines (CyNAMLA). Reagents and conditions: a) Boc2O, DIEA,
CHCl3, 608C, 4–6 h; b) R-NH2, DIEA, CH3CN, 608C, 20-90 min;
c) CH3COCl, DIEA, CH2Cl2, 08C, 5–10 min; d) TFA/CH2Cl2 (1:9), room
temperature, 6 h; e) lipoic acid-activated ester resin, CH2Cl2/CH3CN
(9:1), room temperature, 16 h. Boc=tert-butoxycarbonyl, DIEA=diiso-
propylethylamine, TFA=trifluoroacetic acid.
Scheme 2. Preparation of BSA-stabilized and antibody- or single-chain
variable fragment (scFv)-conjugated SERS nanotags.
properties were examined under a compact Raman scanner
upon incubation of every compound with citrate-stabilized
AuNPs (size: 60 nm). Among metal NPs, AuNPs are partic-
ularly suitable for in vivo applications because of their low
toxicity, adaptability to bioconjugation, and reproducible
signal intensity and quantification.[23] This primary screening
revealed that the SERS intensities of CyNAMLA compounds
varied significantly throughout the library, thus indicating that
the SERS properties depended on the amine structure.
Notably, six derivatives containing mostly aromatic amines
(CyNAMLA-80, 92, 221, 262, 381, and 478, represented in
Figure 1 as A5, A6, C6, C8, E9, and G9, respectively)
The increased size (65–70 nm) of the BSA-encapsulated
CyNAMLA–AuNPs was confirmed by transmission electron
microscopy (TEM; Figure S12 in the Supporting Informa-
tion), and we analyzed the stability of the SERS intensities for
one month (Figures S4–S10 in the Supporting Information).
Remarkably, the nanotags did not show any significant
aggregation under ambient conditions and exhibited consis-
tent SERS intensities over time, with a very low relative
standard deviation (2 to 3%). CyNAMLA-381 was chosen as
the best Raman reporter in terms of both signal intensity and
stability (Figures S3 and S8 in the Supporting Information),
and it displayed around 12-fold higher sensitivity than the
standard DTTC (Figure 2).
With the discovery of CyNAMLA-381 as a NIR highly
sensitive SERS reporter molecule, we applied it to the
preparation of SERS probes for cancer-cell detection and
discrimination. The human epidermal growth factor recep-
tor 2 (HER2) signaling pathway plays an important role in
cell proliferation, and is upregulated in most breast cancers.[29]
To prepare SERS nanotags that could selectively detect
cancer cells expressing HER2 receptors, we conjugated
Figure 1. Comparative SERS intensities of the whole CyNAMLA library
(compound codes as indicated in the Supporting Information). SERS
spectra were measured in a compact Raman scanner with excitation at
785 nm and 60 mW laser power. The intensity of the reference
standard DTTC is plotted as a red bar.
Figure 2. SERS intensities of the selected BSA-encapsulated
CyNAMLA–AuNPs. SERS spectra were measured in a Renishaw Raman
microscope (excitation: 785 nm).
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CyNAMLA-381–AuNPs to two HER2-recognition motifs: a
full anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody (170 kDa) and an scFv
anti-HER2 (26 kDa) antibody.[30] First we examined their
in vitro specificity in SKBR-3 (HER2-positive) and MDA-
MB231 (HER2-negative) cancer cells. Upon incubation of
SKBR-3 cells with antibody-conjugated CyNAMLA-381–
AuNPs, strong SERS signals were observed, whereas negli-
gible signals were detected after incubating the same NPs
with MDA-MB231 cells (Figure S13 in the Supporting
Information). We also confirmed the target specificity of
CyNAMLA-381–AuNPs in SKBR-3 cells by competition
assays between antibody-conjugated nanotags and free
HER2-recognition motifs: a 10- to 15-fold decrease of the
SERS signals in the presence of the competing anti-HER2
antibodies was observed (Figure S14 in the Supporting
Information). Interestingly, the signal intensities obtained
with scFv-conjugated nanotags were 1.5 times stronger than
those with the full-HER2 antibody. These data suggest that
scFv-conjugated nanotags not only maintain the recognition
properties but also improve the detection of full-size anti-
bodies. Furthermore, the smaller size of scFv can significantly
reduce the interstitial tumor pressure that impedes intra-
tumoral distribution when using larger recognition motifs.[9]
We performed SERS mapping experiments in SKBR-3
and MDA-MB231 cells (Figure 3).[31] Mapping images of
SKBR-3 cells after incubation with scFv-conjugated
CyNAMLA-381 nanotags displayed high SERS intensities
at representative frequencies of CyNAMLA-381 (i.e.,
523 cmÀ1). On the other hand, no distinguishable signals
were observed in MDA-MB231 cells under the same exper-
imental conditions. The mapping pictures confirmed that the
interaction between scFv anti-HER2-conjugated nanotags
and SKBR-3 cells was mainly localized at the cell surface,
which corresponds well with the high expression of HER2
receptors at the plasma membrane of cancer cells.[32] Reflec-
tive-mode dark-field images[33] of SKBR-3 cells that were
incubated with scFv-conjugated CyNAMLA-381 SERS nano-
tags also displayed a number of bright spots on the cell surface
because of recognition of the receptor, whereas the same
experimental conditions with MDA-MB231 cells showed a
negligible scattering (Figure S14 in the Supporting Informa-
tion). The corresponding SERS spectra showed that only
intense SERS signals were observed from the particles
located on the cell surface of the HER2-postive cells
(points 2 and 3), and no SERS signals were detected in
other regions of the SKBR-3 cells (point 1) nor in MDA-
MB231 cells (points 4 and 5).
Finally, to validate the optical detection by scFv-conju-
gated CyNAMLA-381 SERS nanotags in vivo, we injected
them into nude mice bearing xenografts generated from
SKBR-3 cells. Five hours after the tail-vein injection, we
measured the SERS spectra of the tumor site through the skin
with a NIR laser beam. The signal of the tumor site perfectly
resembled the SERS spectra of the pure nanotag, whereas no
SERS signal was detected from other anatomical locations
(i.e., upper dorsal; Figure 4). On the other hand, we observed
Figure 4. In vivo detection of HER2-positive tumors with scFv-conju-
gated CyNAMLA-381 SERS nanotags: SERS spectrum of pure nanotags
(blue), and SERS signals of the tumor location (red) and an upper
dorsal area (black). Scale bar: 5000 cps.
that no significant SERS signal was detected after injecting
the nanotags in xenograft models prepared with HER2-
negative cancer cells (MDA-MB231; Figure S15 in the
Supporting Information). Mapping experiments in SKBR-3
xenograft models revealed much higher SERS intensities
(523 cmÀ1) in the tumor region when compared to nontumor
areas (Figure S16 in the Supporting Information). These
results clearly indicate that the scFv-conjugated CyNAMLA-
381 SERS nanotags were able to specifically detect HER2-
positive tumors in vivo.
In summary, we have prepared a lipoic acid-containing
NIR-active tricarbocyanine library (CyNAMLA), and
screened the SERS properties after chemisorption in
AuNPs. CyNAMLA compounds exhibited strong SERS
intensities, and we identified CyNAMLA-381 as a highly
sensitive NIR SERS reporter molecule with excellent signal
stability and 12-fold higher sensitivity than the current
standard DTTC. We further applied CyNAMLA-381 to the
preparation of ultrasensitive SERS probes for in vivo cancer
imaging by conjugating CyNAMLA-381–AuNPs to scFv anti-
HER2 antibodies. These nanotags displayed very good SERS
intensity and selectivity towards HER2-positive cancer cells
under both Raman and dark-field microscopes. Furthermore,
Figure 3. Bright-field and SERS mapping images of cells treated with
CyNAMLA-381 nanotags: a) SKBR-3 and b) MDA-MB231 cells. All
mapping images (523 cmÀ1) were scanned at an interval of 2 mm
(785 nm excitation) and the intensities were normalized between the
lowest (0) and the highest color (1) values. Scale bar: 10 mm.
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Communications
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Received: December 13, 2010
Revised: March 16, 2011
Published online: May 17, 2011
Keywords: chemisorption · combinatorial chemistry ·
.
high-throughput screening · nanoparticles · Raman spectroscopy
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