Development of Targeted Microbubbles for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging of Breast Cancer

A subtype of metastatic breast cancer has recently been identified, in which netrin-1 is over- expressed. Netrin-1 binds to dependence receptors inducing survival, while its absence actively triggers apoptosis. An anti-netrin-1 therapy is under develop- ment, which disrupts ligand-receptor interaction and induces apoptosis. To identify potential responders for such a targeted therapy, netrin-1 expression has to be analyzed. Molecular imaging with ultrasound (US) is able to detect the expression of a specific protein when using targeted contrast agents. Thus, we aim to develop an US molecular imaging approach using microbubbles (MB) functionalized with an anti-netrin-1 antibody. Binding was tested on purified netrin-1 protein in static and dynamic conditions. Anti-netrin-1 MB were validated in in-vitro assays and will be further tested in pre-clinical studies using metastatic breast cancer animal models.