Open AccessTargeted molecular imaging of TLR4 in hepatocellular carcinoma using zwitterionic near-infrared fluorophores
Author(s) -
Yuanyuan Ji,
Zhidong Wang,
Kai Bao,
G. Kate Park,
Homan Kang,
Shuang Hu,
Eric McDonald,
Moon Suk Kim,
Satoshi Kashiwagi,
Hak Choi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 2223-4292
pISSN - 2223-4306
DOI - 10.21037/qims.2019.09.04
Subject(s) - cancer research , hepatocellular carcinoma , tlr4 , tumor microenvironment , molecular imaging , fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy , in vivo , fluorophore , immune system , chemistry , medicine , pathology , fluorescence , biology , immunology , tumor cells , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , quantum mechanics
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are one of the most abundant immune cell types in solid tumors and implicated in tumor progression. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is expressed in TAMs and plays a key role in immune surveillance and tumor progression. Therefore, molecular imaging of TLR4 has potential not only for detection of TAM-enriched progressing tumors, but also evaluation of TLR4 expression in tumor microenvironment.