Antibody Conjugation of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds for Targeted Innate Immune Cell Activation
Lorena P. Suarez‐Kelly, Steven Sun, Casey Ren, Isaac V. Rampersaud, David Albertson, Megan Duggan, Tiffany Noel, Nicholas B. Courtney, Nathaniel J. Buteyn, Charles Moritz, Lianbo Yu, Vedat Yildiz, Jonathan P. Butchar, Susheela Tridandapani, Arfaan Rampersaud, William E. Carson
Abstract
BACKGROUND: fluorescent nanodiamonds (FND) are nontoxic, infinitely photostable nanoparticles that emit near-infrared fluorescence and have a modifiable surface allowing for the generation of protein-FND conjugates. FND-mediated immune cell targeting may serve as a strategy to visualize immune cells and promote immune cell activation. METHODS: studies were performed using a breast cancer mouse model. RESULTS: studies demonstrated the targeted immune cell uptake of IgG-gFND, resulting in significant immune cell activation and no compromise in immune cell viability. IgG-gFND remained at the tumor site following intratumoral injection compared to uFND which migrated to the liver and kidneys. CONCLUSION: antibody-conjugated FND may serve as immune drug delivery vehicles with "track and trace capabilities" to promote directed antitumor activity and minimize systemic toxicities.