Screening for canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) by SERS-based quantitative urine cytology

Alessia Pallaoro; Rustin Y Mirsafavi; William T N Culp; Gary B Braun; Carl D Meinhart; Martin Moskovits

doi:10.1016/j.nano.2018.03.001

Screening for canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) by SERS-based quantitative urine cytology

Nanomedicine. 2018 Jun;14(4):1279-1287. doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2018.03.001. Epub 2018 Mar 27.

Authors

Alessia Pallaoro¹, Rustin Y Mirsafavi², William T N Culp³, Gary B Braun⁴, Carl D Meinhart⁵, Martin Moskovits⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
² Department of Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
³ Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, University of California-Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Davis, CA, United States.
⁴ Cancer Research Center, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, United States; Center for Nanomedicine and Department of Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
⁶ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States. Electronic address: moskovits@chem.ucsb.edu.

PMID: 29597048
DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2018.03.001

Abstract

Canine lower urinary tract neoplasia is a clinically important disease process that has high mortality due to late stage diagnosis and poorly durable response to treatment. Non-invasive diagnostic techniques (e.g. dipstick test, urine cytology) currently have poor diagnostic value, while more invasive tests (e.g. cystoscopy and biopsy) are costly and often require general anesthesia. We have developed and herein describe a quantitative cytological analysis method based on the use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), for identifying cancerous transitional cells in urine using SERS biotags (SBTs) carrying the peptide PLZ4 (amino acid sequence cQDGRMGFc) that targets malignant transitional cells. By analyzing the ratio of the PLZ4-SBTs to an on board control we were able to show that transitional cells had significantly higher ratios (P < 0.05) in patients diagnosed with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) than in healthy samples.

Keywords: Cancer detection; Liquid biopsy; Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS); Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC); Urine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomarkers, Tumor / urine
Biopsy / methods
Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / diagnosis*
Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / urine
Cystoscopy / methods
Dogs
Spectrum Analysis, Raman / methods*
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / diagnosis
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / urine

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor