Abstract #1995

Har-el Y, Sgouros G, Glunde K

Elevated phosphocholine (PC) and total choline-containing compounds (tCho) in tumor cells can be detected by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Liposomes consisting of egg phosphatidylcholine and immunolabeled with Herceptin were used to deliver radionuclides to SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells, which contain up-regulated levels of the protein Her2/neu. We hypothesize that the presence of these liposomes will be detectable using 1H MRS in SKOV3 cells following incorporation of these immunoliposomes by these cells. To test this hypothesis, empty immunoliposomes were bound to SKOV3 cells and 1H MRS was used to detect elevated levels of PC reflected by an increased PC/GPC ratio.