Targeted in-vivo fluorescence imaging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in balb/c mice model using erlotinib conjugated holmium doped gold nanoclusters

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most lethal form of cancer marked by low survival rates due to early metastasis, low surgical resectability and resistance to therapies. Currently, studies reported that only 7 % of patients diagnosed with PDAC survive beyond five years. Hence, methodologies for early prognosis and diagnosis will be highly beneficial for initiating effective treatment and thereby reducing the mortality rate associated with PDAC. In vivo fluorescence imaging techniques using experimental mouse models that can target the tumour specific receptors have been pivotal in unrevealing the pathobiology associated with malignant cancers. In this work, we have designed erlotinib conjugated holmium doped gold nanoclusters (Er@Ho@AuNCs), for effective targeting of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) overexpressing in pancreatic tumour cells in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a] anthracene (DMBA) induced balb/c mice model. The in vitro analysis in PANC-1 and L929 mouse fibroblast cell lines reveal the biocompatible and targeting ability of probe. Further, in vivo imaging is explored in balb/c mice model by implying fluorescence visualization of EGFR overexpressed tumour regions. Finally, the biochemical evaluation and histopathological validation highlights the suitability of probe (Er@Ho@AuNCs) in early diagnosis of PDAC and thereby facilitating probes theranostic applications in pancreatic cancer treatments.