Theranostic Radiopharmaceuticals: Current Status and Perspectives

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Targeting and Design".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 1702

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Pasterova 14, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: bioactive compounds; natural; synthetic; computational modeling studies; gene expression; nanoparticles; drugs delivery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Theranostics are nano-sized or molecular-level agents serving both diagnosis and therapy. Structurally, they are drug delivery systems integrated with molecular or targeted imaging agents. Theranostics are becoming popular because they are targeted therapeutics and can be used with no or minimal changes for diagnostic imaging to aid in precision medicine.  Theranostics in nuclear medicine includes the use and application of two identical or very closely related radiopharmaceuticals for therapy and diagnosis. In oncology, tumor-specific substrates, receptor ligands, or drugs can serve as leads for theranostic development when labeled with specific radionuclides for imaging or therapy.

I am pleased to invite you to contribute a manuscript to this Special Issue, “Theranostic radiopharmaceuticals: current status and perspectives”. The goal of this Special Issue is to present the development of new drugs for theranostic applications, where imaging and therapeutic molecules should be parts of a single platform functionalized with various moieties for the specific recognition of molecular targets, imaging markers, and therapeutic compounds.

In this Special Issue, original research articles on and reviews of new aspects of theranostics drugs that lead cancer treatment toward precision, individuality, and safety are welcome.

It would be my pleasure to receive your manuscripts.

Prof. Dr. Tatjana P. Stanojković
Guest Editor

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. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2900 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

  • theranostics
  • radiopharmaceuticals
  • radiotheranostics
  • nanoparticles
  • receptor ligands
  • targeted radioligand therapy

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.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 3237 KiB  
Article
Radiological and Molecular Analysis of Radioiodinated Anastrozole and Epirubicin as Innovative Radiopharmaceuticals Targeting Methylenetetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase 2 in Solid Tumors
by Mazen Abdulrahman Binmujlli
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(5), 616; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16050616 - 3 May 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1244
Abstract
In the dynamic field of radiopharmaceuticals, innovating targeted agents for cancer diagnosis and therapy is crucial. Our study enriches this evolving landscape by evaluating the potential of radioiodinated anastrozole ([125I]anastrozole) and radioiodinated epirubicin ([125I]epirubicin) as targeting agents against MTHFD2-driven [...] Read more.
In the dynamic field of radiopharmaceuticals, innovating targeted agents for cancer diagnosis and therapy is crucial. Our study enriches this evolving landscape by evaluating the potential of radioiodinated anastrozole ([125I]anastrozole) and radioiodinated epirubicin ([125I]epirubicin) as targeting agents against MTHFD2-driven tumors. MTHFD2, which is pivotal in one-carbon metabolism, is notably upregulated in various cancers, presenting a novel target for radiopharmaceutical application. Through molecular docking and 200 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we assess the binding efficiency and stability of [125I]anastrozole and [125I]epirubicin with MTHFD2. Molecular docking illustrates that [125I]epirubicin has a superior binding free energy (∆Gbind) of −41.25 kJ/mol compared to −39.07 kJ/mol for [125I]anastrozole and −38.53 kJ/mol for the control ligand, suggesting that it has a higher affinity for MTHFD2. MD simulations reinforce this, showing stable binding, as evidenced by root mean square deviation (RMSD) values within a narrow range, underscoring the structural integrity of the enzyme–ligand complexes. The root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) analysis indicates consistent dynamic behavior of the MTHFD2 complex upon binding with [125I]anastrozole and [125I]epirubicin akin to the control. The radius of gyration (RG) measurements of 16.90 Å for MTHFD2-[125I]anastrozole and 16.84 Å for MTHFD2-[125I]epirubicin confirm minimal structural disruption upon binding. The hydrogen bond analysis reveals averages of two and three stable hydrogen bonds for [125I]anastrozole and [125I]epirubicin complexes, respectively, highlighting crucial stabilizing interactions. The MM-PBSA calculations further endorse the thermodynamic favorability of these interactions, with binding free energies of −48.49 ± 0.11 kJ/mol for [125I]anastrozole and −43.8 kJ/mol for MTHFD2-. The significant contribution of Van der Waals and electrostatic interactions to the binding affinities of [125I]anastrozole and [125I]epirubicin, respectively, underscores their potential efficacy for targeted tumor imaging and therapy. These computational findings lay the groundwork for the future experimental validation of [125I]anastrozole and [125I]epirubicin as MTHFD2 inhibitors, heralding a notable advancement in precision oncology tools. The data necessitate subsequent in vitro and in vivo assays to corroborate these results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theranostic Radiopharmaceuticals: Current Status and Perspectives)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop