Probes for imaging enzyme activity

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The spread of cancer from a primary tumor to a distant location, a process termed metastasis, is the cause of death in 90% of patients. A critical step in the progression of cancer is the remodeling of the local environment with which tumours begin to invade. This remodeling is thought to occur primarily through molecular machines called proteases, enzymes that digest the tumour environment providing a permissive space for cancer cells to invade. However, the exact mechanisms and the specific proteases that help cancers spread are not well understood. We propose to design and develop new chemical agents that can reveal the activity of specific proteases operating in the tumour and the tumour environment using positron emission tomography (PET).