Tumor Fibroblast Specific Activation of a Hybrid Ferritin Nanocage-Based Optical Probe for Tumor Microenvironment Imaging

Ferritin-based FAP-α-responsive fluorescence nanoprobes could be activated immediately as they penetrate the tumor blood vessels and come across the FAP-α molecules on the membrane of CAFs in the tumor microenvironment instead of reaching a certain depth into tumor tissue to interact with tumor cells. This probe may become a promising nanomaterial for highly specific and sensitive tumor imaging through responding to the enzymes in the tumor microenvironment. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.