Hypoxia-Directed and Self-Immolative Theranostic Agent: Imaging and Treatment of Cancer and Bacterial Infections.

The impact of bacteria on cancer progression and treatment is becoming increasingly recognized. Cancer-associated bacteria are linked to metastases, reduced efficacy, and survival challenges. In this study, we present a sensitive hypoxia-activated prodrug, , which comprises an antibiotic combined with a chemotherapeutic.

An Activatable T-Weighted MR Contrast Agent: A Noninvasive Tool for Tracking the Vicinal Thiol Motif of Thioredoxin in Live Cells.

We have synthesized new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T contrast agents (CA1 and CA2) that permit the activatable recognition of the cellular vicinal thiol motifs of the protein thioredoxin. The contrast agents showed MR relaxivities typical of gadolinium complexes with a single water molecule coordinated to a Gd center (i.e.

Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe Activated by Nitroreductase for and Hypoxic Tumor Detection.

Tumor hypoxia is correlated with increased resistance to chemotherapy and poor overall prognoses across a number of cancer types. We present here a cancer cell-selective and hypoxia-responsive probe () designed on the basis of density functional theory (DFT)-optimized quantum chemical calculations. The probe was found to provide a rapid fluorescence "off-on" response to hypoxia relative to controls, which lack the folate or nitro-benzyl moieties.