NGR-Based Radiopharmaceuticals for Angiogenesis Imaging: A Preclinical Review.
György TrencsényiKata Nóra EnyediGábor MezőGábor HalmosZita KépesPublished in: International journal of molecular sciences (2023)
Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in tumour progression and metastatic spread; therefore, the development of specific vectors targeting angiogenesis has attracted the attention of several researchers. Since angiogenesis-associated aminopeptidase N (APN/CD13) is highly expressed on the surface of activated endothelial cells of new blood vessels and a wide range of tumour cells, it holds great promise for imaging and therapy in the field of cancer medicine. The selective binding capability of asparagine-glycine-arginine (NGR) motif containing molecules to APN/CD13 makes radiolabelled NGR peptides promising radiopharmaceuticals for the non-invasive, real-time imaging of APN/CD13 overexpressing malignancies at the molecular level. Preclinical small animal model systems are major keystones for the evaluation of the in vivo imaging behaviour of radiolabelled NGR derivatives. Based on existing literature data, several positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) radioisotopes have been applied so far for the labelling of tumour vasculature homing NGR sequences such as Gallium-68 ( 68 Ga), Copper-64 ( 64 Cu), Technetium-99m ( 99m Tc), Lutetium-177 ( 177 Lu), Rhenium-188 ( 188 Re), or Bismuth-213 ( 213 Bi). Herein, a comprehensive overview is provided of the recent preclinical experiences with radiolabelled imaging probes targeting angiogenesis.
Keyphrases
- endothelial cells
- positron emission tomography
- computed tomography
- high resolution
- vascular endothelial growth factor
- small cell lung cancer
- squamous cell carcinoma
- small molecule
- stem cells
- cell therapy
- wound healing
- working memory
- mesenchymal stem cells
- mass spectrometry
- photodynamic therapy
- induced apoptosis
- electronic health record
- cell proliferation
- high glucose
- bone marrow
- binding protein
- dual energy