The present disclosure provides peptide constructs for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications, using pegylated peptides which exhibit specific binding for a target molecule of interest, such as a biomarker of a disease or disorder.

A chelating compound of formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and its complexes with metals or radioisotopes thereof. The invention further relates to the preparation of such ligand and complexes as well as to their use as diagnostic or therapeutic agents. ##STR00001##

The present disclosure relates to an immunologically active peptide-biliverdin conjugate (I), a preparation method therefor and an application thereof in cancer diagnosis, and/or tumor immunotherapy, and/or tumor “photothermal immunotherapy” (tumor photothermal therapy combined with immunotherapy). The conjugate to which the present disclosure relates not only may stimulate an organism to generate a tumor-immune effect, but also may relieve and/or eliminate tumor inflammation, remodel a tumor inflammatory microenvironment and achieve photothermal cancer immunodiagnosis and immunotherapy. The conjugate to which the present disclosure relates has high biocompatibility, good stability and an extended half-life. The conjugate is prepared from an immunologically active peptide and biliverdin by means of chemical synthesis. A peptide end of the conjugate exercises the function of immunoregulation, and a pigment end thereof exercises functions such as tumor imaging diagnosis, tumor photo-thermal ablation, immune inflammatory microenvironment regulation and the like. The conjugate may significantly enhance the antitumor effect and effectively inhibit tumor metastasis and recurrence.

Provided are macrocyclic compounds and compounds with two or more macrocyclic groups, iron coordinated macrocyclic compounds, and iron coordinated compounds with two or more macrocyclic groups. The iron is high-spin iron(III). The iron coordinated compounds may exhibit a negative redox potential (e.g., relative to a normal hydrogen electrode at a biologically relevant pH, for example, a pH of 6.5-7.5). The compounds can be used as MRI contrast agents.

The present invention describes methods and compositions for non-invasively assessing the molecular structure of biocompatible hydrogels using MRI analysis. It is shown that biocompatible hydrogels prepared from polymerizing macromolecules that are attached to a paramagnetic, superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic contrast agents form reporter gels wherein monitoring of the changes in the structure of the hydrogels by MRI is facilitated by the presence of such paramagnetic, superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic agents in the biocompatible hydrogel.

The present invention describes methods and compositions for non-invasively assessing the molecular structure of biocompatible hydrogels using MRI analysis. It is shown that biocompatible hydrogels prepared from polymerizing macromolecules that are attached to a paramagnetic, superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic contrast agents form reporter gels wherein monitoring of the changes in the structure of the hydrogels by MRI is facilitated by the presence of such paramagnetic, superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic agents in the biocompatible hydrogel.

The present disclosure provides peptoid-based chelating ligands, corresponding cyclic peptoids, and methods of making thereof. Functional groups may be tailored for high metal binding affinity and selectivity. The side chains of a cyclic peptoid according to the present disclosure may be selected based on, for example, high affinity for actinide or other metal ions, selectivity for actinide or other metal ions, the ability to recover a metal once it is bound to the peptoid, and whether the overall peptoid should be hydrophobic or hydrophilic. Unlike siderophores, peptoid-based chelating ligands of the present disclosure are not readily hydrolyzed under physiological conditions. Therefore, peptoid-based chelating ligands may be, for example, used to treat actinide (e.g., iron and lead) poisoning in vivo. Moreover, peptoid-based chelating ligands of the present disclosure may be used for medical imaging, chelation therapy, drug delivery, and separation technologies, for example.

This invention relates to the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases by administering compositions that increase the activity of a small proline-rich repeat 1 A protein (Sprr1A), or derivative thereof to the brain. Specifically, the compositions may comprise a nucleic acid molecule encoding a Sprr1A protein or a biologically-active portion thereof. The neurodegenerative disease may be Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or traumatic brain injury.

This invention relates to the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases by administering compositions that increase the activity of a small proline-rich repeat 1 A protein (Sprr1A), or derivative thereof to the brain. Specifically, the compositions may comprise a nucleic acid molecule encoding a Sprr1A protein or a biologically-active portion thereof. The neurodegenerative disease may be Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or traumatic brain injury.

Targeted molecular imaging agents (TMIAs) are derived from coupling together pre-formed amino acids with imaging agents attached to their side chains. These peptide-based imaging agents may be synthesized from a single or multiple preformed amino acids containing multi-modal, multi-chelated metal, multi-dye imaging agents, or combinations of these, on the side chains of resultant peptides. These imaging amino acids or peptides may be conjugated directly, or activated, or attached to linkers to which targeting groups, such as peptides, proteins, antibodies, aptamers, or small molecule inhibitors, may be conjugated in the final steps of the synthesis to form a wide variety of TMIAs.