• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Radioisotope couple for tumor diagnosis and therapy

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 13, 2019
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Kanazawa University

Radioisotopes — atoms displaying radioactivity — can be used for both diagnosing and treating cancer. For diagnosis, radioisotopes that emit gamma rays are used because of their penetrating capability, while for treatment, isotopes emitting alpha particles, beta particles, or similar cytotoxic radiation are needed. (Cytotoxicity refers to the ability to kill or damage cells; in this case, cancer cells.) In recent years, an approach combining therapy and diagnosis both based on radioisotopes, called ‘radiotheranostics’, has gained significance. The key idea is that both the diagnostic and the therapeutic isotope can be brought to a tumor by attaching it to the same carrier molecule. Now, Kazuma Ogawa from Kanazawa University and colleagues have synthesized a radiotheranostic system with astatine (At-211) as the alpha-particle emitter and iodine (I-123) as the gamma-radiation source.

A few types of molecules can be used as radioisotope carriers. Ogawa and colleagues were able to use a peptide (a biomolecule consisting of a chain of amino acids) as the carrier for both the astatine and the iodine isotope. Specifically, they worked with a peptide containing the so-called RGD sequence of amino acids. The RGD motif plays an important role in cell membrane binding; its cell-adhesive activity makes it a good component for designing molecules for targeting tumors.

The theranostic carrier molecules were synthesized through a series of chemical reactions, the last step being a halogenation — the replacement of a particular molecular component by a halogen. (Both astatine and iodine are halogens, having similar chemical properties.)

After the successful synthesis of the At-211 and I-125 carrier molecules, the researchers tested their behavior in vivo. They simultaneously injected the two compounds in tumor-bearing mice, and looked at the biodistribution of the radioactive isotopes — that is, in which parts of the body they occur, and how abundantly. The main finding was that the At-211- and I-125-labeled RGD peptides displayed biodistributions that were very similar, with a high accumulation in the tumor — a prerequisite for operating as a theranostic system. (Another iodine isotope, I-123, is foreseen to be the diagnostic radioisotope, but I-125 has a much longer half-life, making it easier to work with in the present experiments.)

The work of Ogawa and colleagues is an important step forward in the development of radiotheranostics. Quoting the scientists: “This method could be applicable to other peptides directly targeted to cancer. Moreover, future efforts should be focused on application of other radiohalogens … as positron emitters for PET [positron-electron tomography] imaging … ”

###

Media Contact
Tomoya Sato
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b03679

Tags: cancerDiagnosticsMedicine/HealthPharmaceutical Science
Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

blank

Two-Step Lewy Body Detection via Smell and CSF

August 5, 2025
blank

CT Scans: Raised Arms Improve Clavicle Age Estimates

August 5, 2025

Two Decades of Flow Cytometry Advancements

August 5, 2025

How Parent-Child Bonding Affects Teens’ Social Media Addiction

August 5, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    47 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Adulsa Leaf Carbon Dots for Colorimetric Ag⁺ Detection

Hundreds of Satellite Systems Discovered Orbiting Dwarf Galaxies in New Survey

Exploring Jgk1 Phage: A New Antimicrobial Breakthrough

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.