Background: Early diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma is extremely significant for the effective treatment of kidney cancer. The development of AS1411 aptamer modified Mn-MoS2 QDs provides a promising fluorescence/magnetic resonance (MR) dual-modal imaging probe for the precise diagnosis of renal clear cell carcinoma.
Methods: In this work, Mn-MoS₂ QDs were synthesized through a simple “bottom-up” one-step hydrothermal method. AS1411 aptamer was modified on the Mn-MoS₂ QDs to improve the specificity to renal cell carcinoma. The characteristics of Mn-MoS₂ QDs were confirmed by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra, etc. Cellular fluorescence labelling was investigated using the Mn-MoS₂ QDs and AS1411-Mn-MoS₂ QDs. The T₁-weighted MR imaging was assessed by the in vitro MR cell imaging and in vivo MR imaging. Finally, the long-term toxicity of Mn-MoS₂ QDs was investigated by the hematology and histological analysis.
Results: The prepared Mn-MoS₂ QDs exhibited excellent aqueous property, intense fluorescence, low toxicity, high quantum yield of 41.45% and high T₁ relaxivity of 16.95 mM⁻¹s⁻¹. After conjugated with AS1411 aptamer, the AS1411-Mn-MoS₂ QDs could specifically fluorescently label the renal carcinoma cells and present a specific MRI signal enhancement in the tumor region of mice bearing renal carcinoma tumors. Furthermore, Mn-MoS₂ QDs revealed low toxicity to the mice via hematology and histological analysis.
Conclusion: These results demonstrated the potential of AS1411-Mn-MoS₂ QD as a novel nanoprobe for targeted MR imaging and fluorescence labelling of renal cell carcinoma.
Keywords: manganese-doped molybdenum disulfide quantum dots, renal cell carcinoma, magnetic resonance imaging, cell fluorescence labelling