ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gynecological Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1603945
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvanced Optical Technologies for Biosensing and AnalysisView all articles
Employing a HE4-targeted magnetic resonance imaging probe to diagnose ovarian epithelial cancer
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Radiology, Jiaxing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Jiaxing, China
- 2Coherent Biopharma, Ltd, Suzhou, China
- 3College of Biological, Chemical Science and Engineering, Jiaxing University, Zhejiang, China
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The study developed an estrogen-targeted MRI probe using human epididymal protein 4 (HE4) for ovarian epithelial cancer (OEC) diagnosis. T1-weighted image (T1WI) signal intensity was assessed via cellular magnetic resonance imaging, and fluorescence intensity was measured through near-infrared imaging. An OEC mouse model was created using an OEC cell line for in-vivo molecular imaging with MRI and near-infrared techniques. HE4 expression was significantly higher in the SKOV-3 group than in the HOSPEpiC group (P < 0.05). Molecular probes at 0–20 μmol/L did not significantly affect SKOV-3 cell proliferation. The HE4-DTPA-Gd3+ group showed the highest T1WI and fluorescence intensity in SKOV-3 cells (P < 0.05). The in-vivo MRI relative carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) was greater in the HE4-DTPA-Gd3+ group compared to the DTPA-Gd3+ and HA-DTPA-Gd3+ groups (P < 0.05). Two hours post-injection, mice in the HE4-DTPA-Gd3+ group exhibited a stronger fluorescence signal and higher brain fluorescence target-to-background ratio (TBR) compared to the DTPA-Gd3+ and HA-DTPA-Gd3+ groups (P < 0.01). The probe's fluorescence was primarily found in the liver and kidneys. The HE4-DTPA-Gd3+ group showed greater fluorescence intensity across tissues than the control group (P < 0.01). The constructed HE4-targeted MRI probe can specifically bind to OEC cells, and achieve efficient in vivo near-infrared and magnetic resonance imaging in the OEC transplanted tumor mouse model, demonstrating targeting and imaging sensitivity. As a non-invasive imaging technique, this probe offers a potential tool for the early diagnosis of OEC. However, its diagnostic value in the early stages of the disease still needs to be further verified in models that are more similar to early-stage human OEC.
Keywords: epithelial ovarian cancer, HE4, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, probe, diagnosis
Received: 01 Apr 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yao, Cao, Bian, Xu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wenting Zhang, Department of Radiology, Jiaxing Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Jiaxing, China
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