As part of the NEMZ-KI grant, Sara Franchi visited us for a week to perform single-crystal X-ray diffraction and EPR measurements. In addition to the successful work, he also got to know Budapest, and we also visited Szentendre and Visegrad. We are glad to have you as a guest in our lab, we hope to see you again next year. In the meantime, we wish you continued successful work!
Summary of the project
Radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals offer a unique opportunity to diagnose, treat, and monitor many diseases, including cancer. Radioactive metal ions must be securely bound to a chelating agent attached to a biologically active molecule to successfully deploy the radiation to a desirable molecular target. 64/67Cu ions may be suitable radiopharmaceuticals, however, existing ligands do not perform well in vivo for 64/67Cu because Cu(II) can be reduced to Cu(I) by bioreducing agents and then demetalized from the chelating agent. The aim of the present collaboration is to develop effective chelating agents for copper-containing teranostics. These chelating agents are synthesized in the Italian research group. The Hungarian research site would contribute to these studies with two other important structural analysis methods: (1) the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic method is used to detect the oxidation state and the solution structure of the complexes, and (2) for the determination of solid phase structures single crystal X-ray diffraction will be used.