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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1464088

Novel Anti-CEA Affibody for Rapid Tumor-Targeting and Molecular Imaging Diagnosis in Mice bearing Gastrointestinal cancer cell lines

Provisionally accepted
Huanyi Shao Huanyi Shao 1Kaiji Lv Kaiji Lv 2*Pengfei Wang Pengfei Wang 2*Jinji Jin Jinji Jin 2Yiqi Cai Yiqi Cai 2Jun Chen Jun Chen 3*Saidu Kamara Saidu Kamara 3*Shanli Zhu Shanli Zhu 3Guanbao Zhu Guanbao Zhu 2*Lifang Zhang Lifang Zhang 3*
  • 1 Department of Pediatric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang, PR Chin, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
  • 2 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325000, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
  • 3 Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 32503, Zhejiang, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Gastrointestinal cancer is a common malignant tumor with a high incidence worldwide. Despite continuous improvements in diagnosis and treatment strategies, the overall prognosis of gastrointestinal tumors remains poor. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is highly expressed in various cancers, especially in gastrointestinal cancers, making it a potential target for cancer. Therefore, the expression of CEA can reflect the existence of tumors and can be used as target for molecular imaging diagnosis and targeted therapy of gastrointestinal cancers. In this study, we report the selection and characterization of affibody molecules (Z CEA 539, Z CEA 546, Z CEA 919) specific to CEA protein. Their ability to bind to recombinant and native CEA protein have been confirmed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR), immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays. Further, by using Dylight755-labeled Z CEA affibody showed accumulation within tumor site 0.5-hour post injection, and was continuously enhanced for 4 h. The Dylight755-labeled Z CEA affibody exhibited high tumor-targeting specificity in CEA+ xenograft-bearing mice, as well as possesses promising characteristics for tumor targeting imaging. Taken together, our results suggest the potential use of Z CEA affibodies as fluorescent molecular imaging probes for detecting CEA expression in gastrointestinal cancer.

    Keywords: Affibody molecules, gastrointestinal cancer, CEA, Molecular Imaging, Tumor diagnosis

    Received: 13 Jul 2024; Accepted: 12 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shao, Lv, Wang, Jin, Cai, Chen, Kamara, Zhu, Zhu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Kaiji Lv, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325000, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
    Pengfei Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325000, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
    Jun Chen, Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 32503, Zhejiang, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
    Saidu Kamara, Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 32503, Zhejiang, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
    Guanbao Zhu, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325000, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
    Lifang Zhang, Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 32503, Zhejiang, PR China, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.