miRNA-187-3p-Mediated Regulation of the KCNK10/TREK-2 Potassium Channel in a Rat Epilepsy Model.

Regulatory RNAs play a key role in the regulation of protein expression patterns in neurological diseases. Here we studied the regulation of miRNAs in a chronic rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy. The analysis was focused on a putative link with pharmacoresponsiveness as well as the functional implications of the regulation of a selected miRNA.

(R)-[11C]PK11195 brain uptake as a biomarker of inflammation and antiepileptic drug resistance: evaluation in a rat epilepsy model.

Neuroinflammation has been suggested as a key determinant of the intrinsic severity of epilepsy. Glial cell activation and associated inflammatory signaling can influence seizure thresholds as well as the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs. Based on these data, we hypothesized that molecular imaging of microglia activation might serve as a tool to predict drug refractoriness of epilepsy.

Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of SiFA-tagged bombesin and RGD peptides as tumor imaging probes for positron emission tomography.

Gastrin-releasing-peptide (GRP)-receptors and αvβ3-integrins are widely discussed as potential target structures for oncological imaging with positron emission tomography (PET). Favored by the overexpression of receptors on the surface of tumor cells good imaging characteristics can be achieved with highly specific radiolabeled receptor ligands. PEGylated bombesin (PESIN) derivatives as specific GRP receptor ligands and RGD (one-letter codes for arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) peptides as specific αvβ3 binders were synthesized and tagged with a silicon-fluorine-acceptor (SiFA) moiety.

PESIN multimerization improves receptor avidities and in vivo tumor targeting properties to GRPR-overexpressing tumors.

The gastrin releasing peptide receptor (GRPR), being overexpressed on several tumor types, represents a promising target for specific noninvasive in vivo tumor imaging using positron emission tomography. Many of the radiolabeled bombesin analogs being applied in tumor imaging, however, suffer from shortcomings such as limited in vivo stability and poor tumor to background ratios. These obstacles can be overcome by peptide multimerization, as this approach results in constructs comprising several copies of the same peptide, thus retaining the ability to specifically bind to the target structure even if one peptide is cleaved.