Targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the assessment of renal cell carcinoma angiogenesis in nude mice / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the value of contrast enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) with microbubbles targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor type 2 (VEGFR2) for imaging tumor angiogenesis in murine tumor models.Methods Established human renal cell carcinomas(RCC) subcutaneous xenograft tumor model in nude mice,microbubbles targeted to VEGFR2(MBV) was prepared,control microbubbles(MBC) and MBV were injected respectively in each mouse,the intensity of each microbubble was compared,the expressions of VEGFR2 in tumors were tested by immunohistochemistry.Results CEUS imaging showed the intensity of MBV and MBC was (6.50±1.43)dB,(2.59±0.99)dB,respectively.There was significantly higher intensity when using MBV compared with MBC (P<0.01).The time to wash out was longer in MBV contrast group compared with MBC group.Immunohistochemistry showed VEGFR2 was highly expressed in novel vessel walls.Conclusions Contrast microbubbles targeted to VEGFR2 can specially enhance the images of RCC and has tremendous significance in the assessment of angiogenesis.