Targeted Agents for Imaging and Therapy (original) (raw)

Molecular Imaging in the Era of Personalized Medicine

Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine, 2015

Clinical imaging creates visual representations of the body interior for disease assessment. The role of clinical imaging significantly overlaps with that of pathology, and diagnostic workflows largely depend on both fields. The field of clinical imaging is presently undergoing a radical change through the emergence of a new field called molecular imaging. This new technology, which lies at the intersection between imaging and molecular biology, enables noninvasive visualization of biochemical processes at the molecular level within living bodies. Molecular imaging differs from traditional anatomical imaging in that biomarkers known as imaging probes are used to visualize target molecules-of-interest. This ability opens up exciting new possibilities for applications in oncologic, neurological and cardiovascular diseases. Molecular imaging is expected to make major contributions to personalized medicine by allowing earlier diagnosis and predicting treatment response. The technique is also making a huge impact on pharmaceutical development by optimizing preclinical and clinical tests for new drug candidates. This review will describe the basic principles of molecular imaging and will briefly touch on three examples (from an immense list of new techniques) that may contribute to personalized medicine: receptor imaging, angiogenesis imaging, and apoptosis imaging.

Molecular Imaging Aided Improvement in Drug Discovery and Development

The current drug discovery and development platform is rapidly expanding with new classes of pharmaceuticals and novel biological information. The drug discovery and development process relies on the utilization of relevant and robust tools, methods, and models that are predictive of clinical effects in terms of diagnosis, prevention, therapy and prognosis. One of the methods that have gained prominence over the years is Molecular Functional Imaging that optimizes and ensures delivery, measures efficacy and toxicity of the therapeutic agents to the target cell or site in pre-clinical setting. Currently three different imaging modalities that include Radionuclide Imaging (Positron Emission Tomography or PET and Single Photon Emitted Computed Tomography or SPECT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Optical Imaging (Bioluminescence and Florescence) are being extensively used in preclinical models to assess the pharmacokinetics, functional alteration of target and other sites and efficacy of treatment. These real time monitoring modalities are promoting development of novel and sophisticated molecular technologies to identify modulators of protein-protein interactions, apoptosis, protease actions and various other physiological responses. In parallel, significant paradigm shift is occurring at drug discovery and development landscape through emergence of several drug delivery systems like hydrogels, polymers, liposomes and nanoparticles. These innovative delivery vehicles are the future of modern personalized medicine which is still in experimental phases. Molecular Imaging techniques are again the final validation tools for determining the safety, efficacy and need of further improvement of these delivery vehicles. In this review we discuss the current and evolving state of drug discovery and development aided by functional molecular imaging techniques.

A molecular imaging primer: modalities, imaging agents, and applications

Physiological reviews, 2012

Molecular imaging is revolutionizing the way we study the inner workings of the human body, diagnose diseases, approach drug design, and assess therapies. The field as a whole is making possible the visualization of complex biochemical processes involved in normal physiology and disease states, in real time, in living cells, tissues, and intact subjects. In this review, we focus specifically on molecular imaging of intact living subjects. We provide a basic primer for those who are new to molecular imaging, and a resource for those involved in the field. We begin by describing classical molecular imaging techniques together with their key strengths and limitations, after which we introduce some of the latest emerging imaging modalities. We provide an overview of the main classes of molecular imaging agents (i.e., small molecules, peptides, aptamers, engineered proteins, and nanoparticles) and cite examples of how molecular imaging is being applied in oncology, neuroscience, cardiolo...

Molecular imaging: a primer for interventionalists and imagers

Journal of vascular and interventional radiology : JVIR, 2009

The characterization of human diseases by their underlying molecular and genomic aberrations has been the hallmark of molecular medicine. From this, molecular imaging has emerged as a potentially revolutionary discipline that aims to visually characterize normal and pathologic processes at the cellular and molecular levels within the milieu of living organisms. Molecular imaging holds promise to provide earlier and more precise disease diagnosis, improved disease characterization, and timely assessment of therapeutic response. This primer is intended to provide a broad overview of molecular imaging with specific focus on future clinical applications relevant to interventional radiology.

Nanomedicine: Perspective and promises with ligand-directed molecular imaging

European Journal of Radiology, 2009

Molecular imaging and targeted drug delivery play an important role toward personalized medicine, which is the future of patient management. Of late, nanoparticle-based molecular imaging has emerged as an interdisciplinary area, which shows promises to understand the components, processes, dynamics and therapies of a disease at a molecular level. The unprecedented potential of nanoplatforms for early detection, diagnosis and personalized treatment of diseases, have found application in every biomedical imaging modality. Biological and biophysical barriers are overcome by the integration of targeting ligands, imaging agents and therapeutics into the nanoplatform which allow for theranostic applications. In this article, we have discussed the opportunities and potential of targeted molecular imaging with various modalities putting a particular emphasis on perfluorocarbon nanoemulsion-based platform technology. (S.D. Caruthers). methods and targeted nano-sized contrast agents for US, MRI and CT imaging modalities.

Recent Advances in Diagnostic Imaging Biotechnologies and Nanomedicine Applications

2019

Diagnostic imaging biotechnologies represent essential approaches that are recently used for rapid diagnosis and evaluation of a wide range of pathologies in the healthcare field. These technologies have now replaced a multitude of conventional medical diagnostics that have been established throughout decades of years, both in human medicine and veterinary practice. In order to enhance diagnostic imaging sensitivity and popularize its utility, many imaging technologies such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) need to be set up in practice with updated modalities and biomaterials. However, these still rely on the availability of adequate income source to provide such state-of-the-art equipment, as well as acquisition of competent radiological skills in understanding of the normal anatomical species and diagnostic interpretation of detectable diseases. The use of intravenously administered contrast agents has been proved to be feasible and easy-to-use meth...

The Progress and Promise of Molecular Imaging Probes in Oncologic Drug Development

Clinical Cancer Research, 2005

As addressed by the recent Food and Drug Administration Critical Path Initiative, tools are urgently needed to increase the speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of drug development for cancer and other diseases. Molecular imaging probes developed based on recent scientific advances have great potential as oncologic drug development tools. Basic science studies using molecular imaging probes can help to identify and characterize disease-specific targets for oncologic drug therapy. Imaging end points, based on these disease-specific biomarkers, hold great promise to better define, stratify, and enrich study groups and to provide direct biological measures of response. Imaging-based biomarkers also have promise for speeding drug evaluation by supplementing or replacing preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluations, including target interaction and modulation. Such analyses may be particularly valuable in early comparative studies among candidates designed to interact with the same molecular target. Finally, as response biomarkers, imaging end points that characterize tumor vitality, growth, or apoptosis can also serve as early surrogates of therapy success. This article outlines the scientific basis of oncology imaging probes and presents examples of probes that could facilitate progress. The current regulatory opportunities for new and existing probe development and testing are also reviewed, with a focus on recent Food and Drug Administration guidance to facilitate early clinical development of promising probes.

Molecular Imaging and Nanotechnology—Emerging Tools in Diagnostics and Therapy

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022

Personalized medicine is emerging as a new goal in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This approach aims to establish differences between patients suffering from the same disease, which allows to choose the most effective treatment. Molecular imaging (MI) enables advanced insight into molecule interactions and disease pathology, improving the process of diagnosis and therapy and, for that reason, plays a crucial role in personalized medicine. Nanoparticles are widely used in MI techniques due to their size, high surface area to volume ratio, and multifunctional properties. After conjugation to specific ligands and drugs, nanoparticles can transport therapeutic compounds directly to their area of action and therefore may be used in theranostics—the simultaneous implementation of treatment and diagnostics. This review summarizes different MI techniques, including optical imaging, ultrasound imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear imaging, and computed tomography imaging wit...