水溶性高分子の物理化学的特性に基づくがんのセラノスティックス薬剤の創製

抄録

Water-soluble macromolecules, such as polymers and monoclonal antibodies, have some advantages, including high water solubility, high biocompatibility, a wide range of molecular weights, and amenability to easy modification through the terminal attachment of functional groups. Although there are many instances in which water-soluble polymers are used as solubilizers and stabilizing agents in the medical sciences, the possibility of water-soluble polymers themselves serving as drug carriers in cancer-targeting theranostics (therapeutic+diagnostic) remains to be elucidated. We developed water-soluble polymers labeled with radioisotopes and fluorescence dyes, and elucidated their usefulness as cancer-targeting imaging probes by evaluating their biodistribution with in vivo molecular imaging techniques including nuclear medicine, fluorescence imaging, and photoacoustic imaging. Many water-soluble polymers have some physicochemical properties, such as lower critical solution temperature (LCST), which must be considered as well. We developed cancer-targeting therapeutic compounds by controlling the tumor accumulation of water-soluble polymers based on these physicochemical properties. In this paper, details of the development of cancer-targeting theranostics probes will be discussed.