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Updated: Sep 2, 2025
A Permanent Window for Investigating Cancer Metastasis to the Lung
Published on: July 1, 2021
Circulation Time-Optimized Albumin Nanoplatform for Quantitative Visualization of Lung Metastasis via Targeting of
Hyewon Chung1,2, Ji Yong Park3,4,5,6, Kyuwan Kim4,5
1Macrophage Lab, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Institute of Endemic Disease, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
The development of molecular imaging probes to identify key cellular changes within lung metastases may lead to noninvasive detection of metastatic lesions in the lung. In this study, we constructed a macrophage-targeted clickable albumin nanoplatform (CAN) decorated with mannose as the targeting ligand using a click reaction to maintain the intrinsic properties of albumin in vivo. We also modified the number of mannose molecules on the CAN and found that mannosylated serum albumin (MSA) harboring six molecules of mannose displayed favorable pharmacokinetics that allowed high-contrast imaging of the lung, rendering it suitable for in vivo visualization of lung metastases. Due to the optimized control of functionalization and surface modification, MSA enhanced blood circulation time and active/passive targeting abilities and was specifically incorporated by mannose receptor (CD206)-expressing macrophages in the metastatic lung. Moreover, extensive in vivo imaging studies using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT and positron emission tomography (PET) revealed that blood circulation of time-optimized MSA can be used to discern metastatic lesions, with a strong correlation between its signal and metastatic burden in the lung.
