INTRO SENTENCE:
UCLA researchers in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have designed a novel method for the sequential detection and treatment of diseases.
BACKGROUND:
In most clinics, the general approach to helping new patients involves two separate steps – diagnosis and treatment. The separation of treatment from diagnosis necessitates the challenging and often time-consuming process of determining the best method of treatment. This practice results in delays which can extend the patients’ suffering and lower their survival rates. Therefore, the development of new technologies that streamline the overall patient care process is critical.
INNOVATION:
UCLA researchers have invented a generalizable approach of tandem diagnostics and therapeutics. Specifically, a disease-specific metabolite is labeled with a bioorthogonal functional group and introduced to the biological system of interest. Then, the labeled metabolite can be noncovalently detected by an imaging agent-linked synthetic receptor for diagnostics. Conveniently, therapeutics can also be selectively delivered to the target sites using higher-affinity receptor for the same labeled metabolite. This approach allows the efficient and selective detection and treatment of a variety of diseases with distinct metabolic features.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS:
• Tandem imaging and therapy
• Research tool for in vivo imaging
• New mode of targeted disease treatment
ADVANTAGES:
• Sequential diagnosis and treatment
• Selective, tunable interactions
• Thermodynamics-controlled reaction rates
• No need for activated functional groups