claudin-4-targeted radiolabeled peptide

A peptide-based radiopharmaceutical candidate designed to target Claudin-4 (CLDN4), a tight junction protein significantly overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Developed by researchers at Stanford University, the agent consists of selective CLDN4-targeted peptides optimized through D-amino-acid substitutions to enhance metabolic stability and dimerization strategies to improve binding affinity and tumor retention. The peptide structures are conjugated to a DOTA chelator via pegylated (PEG) linkers of varying lengths. These tracers can be radiolabeled with positron emitters such as Gallium-68 (68Ga) or Copper-64 (64Cu) for molecular imaging via positron emission tomography (PET). Preclinical validation in transgenic PDAC mouse models has demonstrated high tumor uptake and specificity, correlating with CLDN4 expression levels, supporting its potential as a theragnostic tool for early diagnosis and guided therapy in pancreatic cancer.

Other names

claudin-4-selective radiolabeled peptidesclaudin4-selective radiolabeled peptidesclaudin 4-selective radiolabeled peptidesCLDN4-targeted radiolabeled peptideCLDN-4-targeted radiolabeled peptideCLDN 4-targeted radiolabeled peptide68Ga-labeled CLDN4 peptide64Cu-labeled CLDN4 peptide