Progress in Targeted Alpha-Particle-Emitting Radiopharmaceuticals as Treatments for Prostate Cancer Patients with Bone Metastases

Bone metastasis remains a major cause of death in cancer patients, and current therapies for bone metastatic disease are mainly palliative. Bone metastases arise after cancer cells have colonized the bone and co-opted the normal bone remodeling process. In addition to bone-targeted therapies (e.g., bisphosphonate and denosumab), hormone therapy, chemotherapy, external beam radiation therapy, and surgical intervention, attempts have been made to use systemic radiotherapy as a means of delivering cytocidal radiation to every bone metastatic lesion. Initially, several bone-seeking beta-minus-particle-emitting radiopharmaceuticals were incorporated into the treatment for bone metastases, but they failed to extend the overall survival in patients. However, recent clinical trials indicate that radium-223 dichloride (²²³RaCl₂), an alpha-particle-emitting radiopharmaceutical, improves the overall survival of prostate cancer patients with bone metastases. This success has renewed interest in targeted alpha-particle therapy development for visceral and bone metastasis. This review will discuss (i) the biology of bone metastasis, especially focusing on the vicious cycle of bone metastasis, (ii) how bone remodeling has been exploited to administer systemic radiotherapies, and (iii) targeted radiotherapy development and progress in the development of targeted alpha-particle therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer bone metastasis.     

手术导航用荧光探针

荧光成像技术因具有操作简便、分辨率高、安全性好且可实时成像等优势,在术中导航中具有广阔的应用前景.虽然目前还没有靶向荧光探针在临床上得到批准,但已经有相当一部分荧光探针进入了临床试验阶段.最早进入临床试验的是一些偶联肿瘤靶向配体的荧光染料,例如近红外菁染料(IRDye800CW)标记的肿瘤特异抗体,叶酸标记的异硫氰酸荧...     

Small luminescent molecular probe for developing as assay for alkaline phosphatase

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an important biomarker in clinical diagnostics, and the abnormal level of ALP enzyme in serum is closely related to various diseases such as bone metastases, bone or liver cancer, and extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Recognizing the location and expression level of ALP in live cells has a substantial importance in early-stage cancer diagnosis, as well as an important parameter for studying the recovery of the patients after liver transplantation. With the advent of the newer and advanced fluorescence imaging techniques, small-molecule fluorescent probes have become a very powerful tool for mapping the subtle changes in the enzyme expression level in living cells and tissues in real-time. In this account, we provide an overview of recent advances in small-molecule ALP fluorescent probes, mainly during the last few years, including the design strategies and applications for biological applications.     

New trends of molecular probes based on the fluorophore 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide

4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimide (ANI) is one of the popular fluorophores for the constructions of various probes. In this review, the major progresses of ANI probes in the past decade have been highlighted and categorized into three trends. The future development of ANI probes has been expected, too.     

New trends of molecular probes based on the fluorophore4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide

4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimide(ANI) represents a valuable fluorophore from which a large number of probes have been derived in order to meet the requirements from the fields of biological sensing and imaging. In this review, the major progresses of ANI-based fluorescent probes in the past decade have been highlighted and categorized into three trends. The future development of ANI probes is also expected. This review provides a great deal of references and illuminating comments which will be helpful for the researchers designing and using fluorescent probes.     

Recent advances in the development of activatable multifunctional probes for in vivo imaging of caspase-3

Caspases are a family of proteases that play critical roles in controlling inflammation and cell death.Apoptosis is a caspase-3 mainly controlled behavior to avoid inflammation and damage to surrounding cells,whereas anomalistic cell apoptosis may be associated with many diseases.The detection and imaging of caspase-3 will be of great significance in evaluating the early therapeutic effect of tumors.Developing smart fluorescent probes may be helpful for the visualization of the rapeutic effect compared with "always on" probes.Thus,more and more works toward activatable fluorescent probes for caspase-3 imaging have been reported.In addition,multifunctional probes have also been designed to further improve the imaging of caspase-3.Herein,this review systematically summarized the representative wo rk of caspase-3 from the perspective of molecular design that it will play a guiding role in the design of probes that respond to caspase-3.Also,challenges and perspectives toward the field for imaging of cell apoptosis(caspase-3) are also discussed.     

Recent Advances in Nanomedicine for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis

Patients with advanced prostate cancer can develop painful and debilitating bone metastases. Currently available interventions for prostate cancer bone metastases, including chemotherapy, bisphosphonates, and radiopharmaceuticals, are only palliative. They can relieve pain, reduce complications (e.g., bone fractures), and improve quality of life, but they do not significantly improve survival times. Therefore, additional strategies to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer bone metastases are needed. Nanotechnology is a versatile platform that has been used to increase the specificity and therapeutic efficacy of various treatments for prostate cancer bone metastases. In this review, we summarize preclinical research that utilizes nanotechnology to develop novel diagnostic imaging tools, translational models, and therapies to combat prostate cancer bone metastases.     

Fluorescent probes for detection of biothiols based on “aromatic nucleophilic substitution-rearrangement” mechanism

“Aromatic nucleophilic substitution-rearrangement (SNAr-rearrangement)” mechanism provided a powerful tool to design fluorescent probes for the discrimination between biothiols.     

缺氧响应荧光探针的成像及治疗应用

由于肿瘤内部细胞远离血管, 其氧气消耗量远远超出血液供应量, 因此容易导致肿瘤缺氧. 肿瘤缺氧会引发肿瘤扩散加速、 诱导某些基因过表达及产生药物抗药性等问题. 基于此, 发展性能优异的缺氧响应荧光探针对肿瘤的诊断和治疗具有重要意义. 本文对缺氧响应荧光探针在成像及治疗方面的应用进展进行了综合评述, 介绍了硝基、 偶氮键和醌3种常用的缺氧响应基团, 并探讨了它们在缺氧微环境下的识别机理; 介绍了缺氧响应荧光探针的构建及其在生物成像方面的最新研究成果; 总结了缺氧响应荧光探针在基因治疗、 光动力学治疗、 化学治疗及协同治疗方面的研究进展; 展望了缺氧响应荧光探针在临床诊断和治疗方面的应用前景.     

Biomarker-targeted fluorescent probes for breast cancer imaging

This review summarized fluorescent probes for breast cancer imaging according to different biomarkers probes recognized.     

Fluorescent probes for detection of biothiols based on “aromatic nucleophilic substitution-rearrangement” mechanism

Biothiols, including cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy), and glutathione (GSH) play important roles in physiological processes, and the detection of thiol using fluorescent probes has attracted attention due to their high sensitivity and selectively and invasive on-time imaging. However, the similar structures and reactivity of these biothiols present great challenges for selective detection. This review focused on the the “aromatic nucleophilic substitution-rearrangement (S_NAr-rearrangement) mechanism”, which provided a powerful tool to design fluorescent probes for the discrimination between biothiols. We classify the fluorescent probes according to types of fluorophores, such as difluoroboron dipyrromethene (BODIPY), nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD), cyanine, pyronin, naphthalimide, coumarin, and so on. We hope this review will inspire exploration of new fluorescent probes for biothiols and other relevant analytes.     

偶氮苯衍生物探针在乏氧细胞成像中的应用

细胞不受控制的生长增殖和异常的血管系统导致肿瘤部位氧气供应不足,氧气浓度低于正常组织.细胞乏氧是大多数实体瘤的共同特征,可用作恶性组织和癌症进展的指标.准确的乏氧检测和成像对癌症患者的诊断和临床治疗至关重要.荧光成像具有高灵敏度、无创、实时等优点,常被用于癌症检查.偶氮基团由于其对荧光基团的荧光猝灭作用和还原断裂荧光恢...     

Strategies for Tumor Hypoxia Imaging Based on Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorogens

Hypoxia, as a crucial characteristic of cancer, has become an extremely significant direction for researchers to construct fluorescent probes for early diagnosis of tumors. Aggregation-induced emission fluorogens (AIEgens) possess many superior properties to those of conventional fluorophores due to aggregation-induced emission (AIE) features, such as a linear concentration-dependent increase in brightness, remarkable resistance to photobleaching, and the long-term tracking and imaging of cells. Constructing hypoxic response AIEgen-based probes will be very useful for the early diagnosis of tumors. Herein, several hypoxia-responsive probes based on AIEgens reported in the last three years are reported; these examples may lead to the construction of hypoxia-responsive AIE probes used for tumor hypoxia imaging in the future. In addition, typical, conventional hypoxia-responsive bioprobes are presented to further understand hypoxia-responsive fluorescent probes based on AIEgens.     

基于Cy7类菁染料分子探针的设计策略

菁染料是一类经典的荧光染料母核, 具有摩尔消光系数大、 吸收波长可调、 溶解性良好及生物兼容性好等优点, 被广泛用于蛋白标记、 痕量金属离子检测、 生物活性物质检测、 细胞和活体成像及肿瘤靶向治疗等领域. 近年来, 生物医学领域对活体结构及功能成像深度提出更高的需求, 基于优异的长波长染料母核开发近红外荧光分子探针逐渐成为领域的研究重点. 吲哚七甲川菁染料(Cy7)是一类最具代表性的菁染料, 本文重点综合评述了自1992年以来基于Cy7结构开发的分子探针, 并介绍了该类荧光探针的设计策略. 最后, 讨论了该领域研究面临的挑战, 并对未来的发展方向进行了总结和展望.     

Optical imaging: bacteria,viruses, and mammalian cells encoding light-emitting proteins reveal the locations of primary tumors and metastases in animals

Early detection of tumors and their metastases is crucial for the prognosis of cancer treatment. Traditionally, tumor detection is achieved by various methods, including magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography. With the recent cloning, cellular expression, and real-time imaging of light-emitting proteins, such as Renilla luciferase (Ruc), bacterial luciferase (Lux), firefly luciferase (Luc), green fluorescent protein (GFP), or Ruc-GFP fusion protein, significant efforts have been focused on using these marker proteins for tumor detection. It has also been demonstrated that certain bacteria, viruses, and mammalian cells (BVMC), when administered systemically, are able to gain entry and replicate selectively in tumors. In addition, many tissue/tumor specific promoters have been cloned which allow transgene expression specifically in tumor tissues. Therefore, when light-emitting protein encoded BVMC are injected systemically into rodents, tumor-specific marker gene expression is achieved and is detected in real time based on light emission. Consequently, the locations of primary tumors and previously unknown metastases in animals are revealed in vivo. In the future it will likely be feasible to use engineered light-emitting BVMC as probes for tumor detection and as gene-delivery vehicles in vivo for cancer therapy.     

可固定性荧光探针:线粒体成像的可靠工具

线粒体是一种具有双层膜结构的细胞器,参与细胞新陈代谢过程的能量循环以及离子平衡过程,在细胞生理过程中具有极其重要的意义。一些小分子荧光染料/探针结构中带有正电荷,因受到线粒体内膜负电势的牵引而标记在线粒体上,为研究线粒体的形态或功能提供了重要的可视化成像工具。然而,大多数线粒体染料/探针对线粒体的靶向标记稳定性仍不够理想,因为线粒体电势处于不断的动态变化中,当电势降低时,对染料的亲和力相应降低。尤其在病理条件下(比如细胞凋亡)细胞代谢受到阻滞时,线粒体膜电势显著降低,阳离子染料将扩散离开线粒体,造成非特异性荧光。最近,Kim团队和本人课题组提出可固定线粒体探针的新概念,用活性基团将荧光分子探针通过共价键固定在线粒体中,开发了稳定靶向线粒体中的定量探测微环境p H值、粘度、膜电势荧光探针。我们认为,对于追踪和探测具有高度动态变化特性的线粒体而言,开发可固定的线粒体荧光分子探针是必然趋势,因此本文进行评述和展望。     

荧光纳米探针用于细胞器pH检测的研究进展

pH稳态对于维持活细胞细胞器的正常功能具有重要作用.细胞器内pH稳态被打破会导致细胞器功能的紊乱,进而引发癌症、神经退行性疾病等相关疾病.因此,在活细胞水平上定量测定pH并对其波动进行实时监测对于理解相关疾病的发生机制非常重要.基于非侵入、高时空分辨率成像的优势,荧光探针非常适合用于活细胞内pH的检测.本综述总结了近些年利用不同种类荧光纳米探针对不同细胞器进行pH成像的研究工作,并对荧光纳米探针应用面临的机遇与挑战进行了展望.     

Application of Deuteporfin in the Metastatic Lymph Node Mapping of Pancreatic Cancer: An in vivo Study

For most cancer patients, the presence of metastatic lymph nodes usually indicates regional recurrence and poor prognosis. Therefore, lymph node mapping is a requisite for disease staging, prognosis prediction and decision making in the treatment of cancer. Deuteporfin, a second‐generation photosensitizer, has a maximum excitation wavelength that can reach the near infrared (NIR) region (650–700 nm). We aimed to take advantage of these aspects of deuteporfin and use it as a fluorescent probe for metastatic lymph node mapping in vivo using NIR fluorescent imaging. In our study, we further investigated whether a photosensitizer could be used as a tracer for metastatic lymph node mapping of pancreatic cancer based on previous reports. Compared to normal tissues, tumor tissues including primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes had a higher uptake ability of deuteporfin (P < 0.05). Our research confirmed this targeting property of deuteporfin using in vivo fluorescent imaging. Consistent with observations from in vivo imaging experiments, frozen sections of metastatic lymph nodes intuitively displayed significantly higher and wider distributions of deuteporfin than normal sections.     

Zebrafish as a good vertebrate model for molecular imaging using fluorescent probes

Fluorescent probes have been used extensively to monitor biomolecules and biologically relevant species in vitro and in vivo. A new trend in this area that has been stimulated by the desire to obtain more detailed information about the biological effects of analytes is the change from live cell to whole animal fluorescent imaging. Zebrafish has received great attention for live vertebrate imaging due to several noticeable advantages. In this tutorial review, recent advances in live zebrafish imaging using fluorescent probes, such as fluorescent proteins, synthetic fluorescent dyes and quantum dots, are highlighted.     

Near-infrared fluorescent molecular probes for imaging and diagnosis of nephro-urological diseases

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging has improved imaging depth relative to conventional fluorescence imaging in the visible region, demonstrating great potential in both fundamental biomedical research and clinical practice. To improve the detection specificity, NIR fluorescence imaging probes have been under extensive development. This review summarizes the particular application of optical imaging probes with the NIR-I window (700–900 nm) or the NIR-II window (1000–1700 nm) emission for diagnosis of nephron-urological diseases. These molecular probes have enabled contrast-enhanced imaging of anatomical structures and physiological function as well as molecular imaging and early diagnosis of acute kidney injury, iatrogenic ureteral injury and bladder cancer. The design strategies of molecular probes are specifically elaborated along with representative imaging applications. The potential challenges and perspectives in this field are also discussed.

Near-infrared fluorescent molecular probes with improved imaging depth and optimized biodistribution have been reviewed, showing great potential for diagnosis of nephro-urological diseases.