The compounds - fluorescent inhibitors of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) - could have broad applications for detecting tumors earlier, monitoring a tumor's transition from pre-malignancy to more aggressive growth, and defining tumor margins during surgical removal.
Marnett and his colleagues previously demonstrated that fluorescent COX-2 inhibitors - which they have now dubbed "fluorocoxibs" - were useful probes for protein binding, but their early molecules were not appropriate for cellular or in vivo imaging.
"It was a real challenge to make a compound that is COX-2 selective (doesn't bind to the related COX-1 enzyme), has desirable fluorescence properties, and gets to the tissue in vivo," Marnett said.
Marnett and his colleagues previously demonstrated that fluorescent COX-2 inhibitors - which they have now dubbed "fluorocoxibs" - were useful probes for protein binding, but their early molecules were not appropriate for cellular or in vivo imaging.
"It was a real challenge to make a compound that is COX-2 selective (doesn't bind to the related COX-1 enzyme), has desirable fluorescence properties, and gets to the tissue in vivo," Marnett said.
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