Antitumor Effect of Nanoparticle 131I-Labeled Arginine-Glycine-Aspartate–Bovine Serum Albumin–Polycaprolactone in Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE. The aim of the present study is to investigate the biologic effects of internal irradiation and the therapeutic effectiveness of 131I-labeled arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD)–bovine serum albumin (BSA)–polycaprolactone (PCL) (131I-RGD-BSA-PCL) in murine lung cancer models. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The target binding and cellular uptake of NCI-H460 lung cancer cells overexpressing integrin αvβ3 were observed by confocal microscopy. Flow cytometry was used to assay apoptosis. The biologic effects of internal irradiation and the therapeutic efficacy of 131I-RGD-BSA-PCL were investigated in murine lung cancer models; tumor size, body weight, histopathologic findings, and SPECT/CT imaging findings were also monitored. RESULTS. In vitro uptake studies performed using confocal microscopy showed that, after 1 hour of incubation with RGD-BSA-PCL or BSA-PCL, visible fluorescence was present in the cells, and after 8 hours, the florescent signal did not disappear. The mean (± SE) tumor uptake level (i.e., t...