Supramolecular Chemistry In Biomedical Imaging

There have been many great advances in the field of biomedical imaging in recent years, with supramolecular chemistry playing a key role in the evolution of modern imaging techniques. Non-covalent supramolecular interactions are fundamental to countless biological processes, from host–guest binding to the stabilisation of complex structures. Supramolecular chemistry techniques can be employed to create probes that can be targeted to either exploit or disrupt these interactions, giving the potential for both diagnostic and therapeutic effects. Furthermore, in techniques such as contrast enhanced MRI, controlling the interactions between solvent molecules and the imaging agent is crucial to the development of the technique. With rapid growth in the synthesis and study of molecular imaging agents, the understanding of their associated techniques has sometimes lagged behind. Supramolecular Chemistry in Biomedical Imaging will fill this gap by clarifying the state of current understanding and the nature of the underlying problems inherent to addressing problems in biology. It will cover both the techniques used in imaging and the molecular and supramolecular systems used to exploit them. This publication targets academics coming to the field from mainstream supramolecular chemistry, research graduates and undergraduates interested in supramolecular chemistry, synthesis or imaging agents and imaging techniques for biomedical applications.

Non-covalent interactions, which are the heart of supramolecular chemistry are also the basis of most important functions of living systems. The ability to apply supramolecular chemistry principles to the life sciences, such as designing synthetic host compounds to selectively interact within biological targets, has gained wide appeal due the vast number of potential applications. Supramolecular Systems for Biomedical Fields provides in sixteen chapters a comprehensive overview of these applications. Each chapter covers a specific topic and is written by internationally renowned experts in that area. Sensing of bioactive inorganic ions and organic substrates is the focus of several contributions, as well as interactions with proteins and nucleic acids. Specific chapters are devoted to cyclodextrins, calixarenes and cucurbiturils as most frequently used receptors, including applications such as drug delivery and protection, gene transfer and others. Other chapters address the use of combinatorial libraries, molecular imprinting techniques, enzyme assays, supramolecular gels, bioimaging, drug activation, photodynamic therapy, and antitumour metal complexes. This timely publication will appeal to graduate students and researchers from chemical, pharmaceutical, biological, and medicinal fields interested in the supramolecular chemistry of biological systems and their practical potentials.

The aim of this book is to return to the biomimicry and medicinal potential that inspired many of the early supramolecular chemists and to set it in the context of current advances in the field. Following an overview of supramolecular chemistry, the first section considers the efforts made to synthesize artificial systems that mimic biological entities. The second section addresses the application of supramolecular principles to molecular diagnostics with a particular emphasis on the ‘receptor-relayreporter’ motif. Many of the examples chosen have clinical importance. The third section takes the clinical diagnostic theme further and demonstrates the therapeutic applications of supramolecular chemistry through photodynamic therapy, drug delivery, and the potential for synthetic peptides to form antibiotic tubes. The short epilogue considers the potential for supramolecular solutions to be found for further challenges in biomimetic and therapeutic chemistry.

Supramolecular Nanotechnology Provides up-to-date coverage of both current knowledge and new developments in the dynamic and interdisciplinary field of supramolecular nanotechnology In recent years, supramolecular nanotechnology has revolutionized research in chemistry, physics, and materials science. These easily manipulated molecular units enable the synthesis of novel nanomaterials for use in a wide range of current and potential applications including electronics, sensors, drug delivery, and imaging. Supramolecular Nanotechnology presents a state-of-the-art overview of functional self-assembling nanomaterials based on organic and polymeric molecules. Featuring contributions by an international panel of experts in the field, this comprehensive volume covers the design of self-assembled materials, their synthesis and diverse fabrication methods, the characterization of supramolecular architectures, and current and emerging applications in chemistry, biology, and medicine. Detailed chapters discuss the synthesis of peptide-based supramolecular structures and polymeric self-assembling materials, their characterization, advanced microscopy techniques, nanostructures made of porphyrins, polyelectrolytes, silica, their application in catalysis and cancer, atomistic and coarse-grained simulations, and more. Presents cutting-edge research on rationally designed, self-assembled supramolecular structures Discusses the impact of supramolecular nanotechnology on current and future research and technology Highlights applications of self-assembled supramolecular systems in catalysis, biomedical imaging, cancer therapies, and regenerative medicine Provides synthetic strategies for preparing the molecular assemblies and various characterization techniques for assessing the supramolecular morphology Describes theoretical modeling and simulation techniques for analyzing supramolecular nanostructures Supramolecular Nanotechnology: Advanced Design of Self-Assembled Functional Materials is essential reading for materials scientists and engineers, polymer and organic chemists, pharmaceutical scientists, molecular physicists and biologists, and chemical engineers.

Since the pioneering publications on coordination chemistry by Lehn and Pedersen in the late 1960s, coupled with the more orthodox interest from the transition metal chemists on template reactions (Busch, 1964), the field of supramolecular chemistry has grown at an astonishing rate. The use of transition metals as essential constituents of multi-component assemblies has been especially sharp in recent years, since the metals are prone to quick and reversible redox changes, and there is a wide variety of metal--ligand interactions. Such properties make supramolecular complexes of transition metal ions suitable candidates for exploration as light--energy converters and signal processors. Transition Metals in Supramolecular Chemistry focuses on the following main topics: (1) metal controlled organization of novel molecular assemblies and shapes; (2) design of molecular switches and devices operating through metal centres; (3) supramolecular catalysts that mimic metalloenzymes; (4) metal-containing sensory reagents and supramolecular recognition; and (5) molecular materials that display powerful electronic, optoelectronic and magnetic properties.

Over the past decades, the field of molecular imaging has been rapidly growing involving multiple disciplines such as medicine, biology, chemistry, pharmacology and biomedical engineering. Any molecular imaging procedure requires an imaging probe that is an agent used to visualize, characterize and quantify biological processes in living systems. Such a probe typically consists of an agent that usually produces signal for imaging purpose, a targeting moiety, and a linker connecting the targeting moiety and the signaling agent. Many challenging problems of molecular imaging can be addressed by exploiting the great possibilities offered by modern synthetic organic and coordination chemistry and the powerful procedures provided by conjugation chemistry. Thus, chemistry plays a decisive role in the development of this cutting-edge methodology. Currently, the diagnostic imaging modalities include Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), Ultrasound (US), Nuclear Imaging (PET, SPECT), Optical Imaging (OI) and Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI). Each of these imaging modalities has its own advantages and disadvantages, and therefore, a multimodal approach combining two techniques is often adopted to generate complementary anatomical and functional information of the disease. The basis for designing imaging probes for a given application is dictated by the chosen imaging modality, which in turn is dependent upon the concentration and localization profile (vascular, extracellular matrix, cell membrane, intracellular, near or at the cell nucleus) of the target molecule. The development of high-affinity ligands and their conjugation to the targeting vector is also one of the key steps for pursuing efficient molecular imaging probes. Other excellent reviews, text and monographs describe the principles of biomedical imaging, focusing on molecular biology or on the physics behind the techniques. This Research Topic aims to show how chemistry can offer molecular imaging the opportunity to express all its potential.

Molecular imaging is primarily about the chemistry of novel biological probes, yet the vast majority of practitioners are not chemists or biochemists. This is the first book, written from a chemist's point of view, to address the nature of the chemical interaction between probe and environment to help elucidate biochemical detail instead of bulk anatomy. Covers all of the fundamentals of modern imaging methodologies, including their techniques and application within medicine and industry Focuses primarily on the chemistry of probes and imaging agents, and chemical methodology for labelling and bioconjugation First book to investigate the chemistry of molecular imaging Aimed at students as well as researchers involved in the area of molecular imaging