Abstract 1965: A novel biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticle enables enhanced live cell tagging and tracking of cancer cells

Abstract Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer mortality. Metastasis is a multi-step process which includes local tumor cell invasion, cell migration into the vasculature, exit of cells from the circulation and colonization at the distal tissue sites. Long-term noninvasive cell tracking by fluorescent probes is of great importance to life science and biomedical engineering. Current methods used to fluorescently tag cancer cells have been limited by short signal duration, high background auto-fluorescence or lengthy cell line generation using GFP. We have developed a biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticle which relies on Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE) technology that are highly resistant to fluorescent signal quenching. These particles enable highly efficient live cell fluorescent tagging while retaining fluorescent signal for up to 10 days in vitro and 21 days in vivo. These nanoparticles will open new avenues in the development of fluorescent probes for following biological processes such as carcinogenesis. Citation Format: Nick Asbrock, Vi Chu, Kevin Su, Ben Zhong Tang, Bin Liu. A novel biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticle enables enhanced live cell tagging and tracking of cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1965. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1965