Technetium and Rhenium in Chemistry and Their Advanced Applications
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2022) | Viewed by 50378
Special Issue Editors
Interests: radiometals; coordination complexes; radiopharmaceuticals; radio-therapy; imaging agents; theranostics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: translational research; tumor immunology; drug delivery; pharmacology; molecular oncology; radiopharmaceuticals; tumor imaging; nuclear medicine
Interests: radiopharmaceutical chemistry; targeted radionuclide therapy; molecular imaging; PET and SPECT preclinical imaging; radiopharmacokinetics; endoradiotherapy; dosimetric studies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Imaging and targeted therapy with radionuclides/radioactive probes continues to gain consensus in patient management, and to play an increasingly relevant role in precision medicine, where individuals can benefit from personalized treatments.
Despite the enhanced general emphasis on positron emission tomography (PET) technology, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) continues to be the first-line imaging modality in nuclear medicine. This is because SPECT imaging mostly relies on Technetium-99m (99mTc), which, owing to its ideal physical decay properties, convenient availability, and rich and versatile coordination chemistry, still remains the most widely used radionuclide in clinical practice.
To add further value to this element is the existence of the radioactive rehenium-188 (188Re) congener that, for its nuclear features, has been shown to be a very attractive candidate for endoradiotherapy application. The remarkable chemical similarities between technetium and rhenium, due to their position in the periodic table, result, for stable complexes characterized by equal molecular environments, in a similar biological behavior. This renders 99mTc and 188Re ideal for the development of a matching theranostic pair combining diagnosis and therapy.
However, looking at the 99mTc/188Re-radiopharmaceuticals scenario, it is evident that, although 99mTc is the radionuclide of choice for SPECT, and a number of efficient approaches based on the Tc/Re-chemistry are available for the design and development of new target-specific radiopharmaceuticals, in the past two decades only a few new SPECT tracers have been approved by the FDA (Food Drug Administration) and/or the EMA (European Medicines Agency), and only a few re-labeled therapeutic agents have been investigated in early phase clinical trials for the management of primary tumors, bone metastasis and rheumatoid arthritis, pointing out a deadlock on the development of such classes of radiopharmaceuticals. Nevertheless, this fact can also be viewed as an incredible challenge and opportunity for researchers.
Over the last few years, the interruption of the global supply chain of reactor-produced 99Mo needed for the production of 99Mo/99mTc generators has somehow brought out the key role of 99mTc in clinical practice, forcing the scientific community to investigate alternative production routes for this important radionuclide. On the other hand, the recent advances in SPECT technology, which allow for rapid imaging acquisition, higher spatial resolution and sensitivity as compared to conventional anger-cameras, are gradually reducing the gap between SPECT and PET, also significantly changing the perspective of 99mTc-housing radiopharmaceuticals and promoting the rediscovery and new imaging applications of this element after years of stagnation. In this situation, to fully exploit the potential of these new technologies, new categories of technetium complexes might be essential for opening a new era for this element.
This Special Issue is dedicated to all aspects of technetium and rhenium chemistry, and to the application of the corresponding radiometal-based compounds in radiopharmaceuticals applications as diagnostic, therapeutic or theranostic agents.
It is a pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue; articles and communications, as well as reviews, are all welcome.
Dr. Cristina Bolzati
Dr. Debora Carpanese
Dr. Laura Melendez-Alafort
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- Technetium
- Technetium-99m
- Rehenium
- Rehenium-188/186
- Coordination complexes
- Technetium chemistry
- Rehenium chemistry
- Radiometals
- Radiopharmaceuticals
- Imaging agents
- SPECT
- Radiotherapy
- Theranostics
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.