Far-red and near-infrared fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) have become advancing contrast agents for efficient whole-body tumor imaging. In this study, we investigated the possibility of the vital fluorescence imaging of tumor using two contrast agents on the basis of QDs: bioinert QDs coated with polyethyleneglycol and QDs bound with anti-HER2/neu scFv antibodies. HER2/neu-positive breast cancer tumor xenografts in nude mice were used as a model. It was shown that both bioinert and tumor-targeted QD probes can be successfully applied for visualization of the tumor using in vivo imaging method, but fluorescent signal of QD-4D5scFv in tumors was considerably stronger than that of QD-PEG.
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