MMP-14 Triggered Fluorescence Contrast Agent

Matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14) is involved in cancer invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Therefore, it is considered to be a biomarker for aggressive cancer types, including some of the triple-negative breast cancer. Accurate (i.e., specific) and sensitive detection of MMP-14 can, thus, be important for the early diagnosis of and accurate prognosis for aggressive cancer, including the breast cancer caused by cell line MDA-MB 231. Fluorophore-mediated molecular sensing has been used for detecting biomarkers, for a long time. One way to increase the specificity of the sensing is designing the fluorophore to emit its fluorescence only when it encounters the biomarker of interest. When a fluorophore is placed on the surface of, or very close to a gold nanoparticle (GNP), its fluorescence is quenched. Applying this relationship between the GNP and fluorophore, we have developed a GNP-based, near-infrared fluorescent contrast agent that is highly specific for MMP-14. This agent normally emits only 14-17 % fluorescence of the free fluorophore. When the agent encounters MMP-14, its fluorescence gets fully restored, allowing MMP-14 specific optical signal emission.