Conjugation of Monoclonal Antibodies to Super Paramagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Detection of her2/neu Antigen on Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Conjugation of monoclonal antibodies to super paramagnetic nanoparticles is an effective method for cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this study the humanized anti her2/neu monoclonal antibody- Herceptin- was conjugated to super paramagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles using EDC method. The concentration of the conjugated antibodies was measured by Bradford assay. The antibody-nanoparticle conjugates were incubated with SKBR-3 and T47D human breast carcinoma cell lines and the presence of the conjugates on cell surface was confirmed by Prussian blue iron staining method. Conjugation of Herceptin to SPIO resulted in a precipitate-free conjugate containing 20µg antibody/mg SPIO. Prussian blue iron-staining of cells showed successful binding of the conjugates to the cell surfaces. Conjugation of monoclonal antibodies to SPIO may be a useful method for detection of tumor cells, especially by MRI techniques.