Infrared photodetection for the in vivo localisation of phage-derived antibodies directed against angiogenic markers

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, is a characteristic process which underlies many diseases, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and blinding ocular disorders. Antibodies capable of s elective targeting and occlusion of neovasculature would open diagnostic an d therapeutic opportunities. We have recently demonstrated that phage-deriv ed human antibody fragments with high affinity for the extra-domain B (ED-B ) of fibronectin, a marker of angiogenesis, selectively localise in new-for ming blood vessels upon intravenous injection. Here, we show that infrared fluorescence methodologies nicely complement radioactive techniques for the study of the antibody-mediated targeting of angiogenesis in a variety of a nimal models. Methods are presented for the construction and use of infrare d fluorescence imagers, as well as for the production and characterisation of recombinant antibodies labeled with infrared fluorophores. (C) 1999 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.