Enhanced γ-glutamyltranspeptidase imaging that unravels the glioma recurrence in post-radio/chemotherapy mixtures for precise pathology via enzyme-triggered fluorescent probe

Abstract

Accurate pathological diagnosis of gliomas recurrence is crucial for the optimal management and prognosis prediction. The study here unravels that our newly developed γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) fluorescence probe (Figure 1A) imaging in twenty recurrent glioma tissues selectively recognizes the most malignant portion from treatment responsive tissues induced by radio/chemo-therapy (Figure 1B). The overexpression of GGT in recurrent gliomas and low level in radiation necrosis were validated by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, the ki-67 index evaluation demonstrated the significant increase of malignancy, aided by the GGT-responsive fluorescent probe to screen out the right specimen through fast enhanced imaging of enzyme activity. Importantly, our GGT-targeting probe can be used for accurate determination of pathologic evaluation of tumor malignancy, and eventually for guiding the following management in patients with recurrent gliomas.