Project description
Stable bonding of astatine-211 supports improved cancer radiotherapy
Targeted alpha therapy is designed to deliver highly energetic radiation directly to cancer cells via bonding of an alpha emitter to a cancer-targeting molecule. The alpha emitter astatine-211 (211At), which behaves similarly to both metals and halogens, is very promising due to its extremely short half-life. Development of 211At-labelled radiopharmaceuticals is currently focused on the carbon-At bond, which has proven unstable in vivo, resulting in premature release and irradiation of healthy tissue. Using newly available analytical and computational approaches compatible with trace concentrations, the ERC-funded SAt-Radio project will investigate alternative bonding strategies based on both the halogen and metallic properties of 211At to unleash this alpha emitter’s potential to fight cancer.
Objective
Astatine (At) is the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth, exhibiting only short-lived radioisotopes. One of them, ²¹¹At, decays with a half-life of 7.2 h by emission of a highly energetic alpha particle, making it one of the rare alpha emitters suitable for targeted alpha therapy (TAT) of cancers, if bound to an appropriate cancer targeting molecule. Because the number of cyclotrons able to produce it has seen a significant rise in the past years, it is expected that ²¹¹At will become more accessible and play a major role in the development of TAT.
Astatine belongs to the halogen elements, and despite more than 80 years since its discovery, many chemical properties remain to be discovered. This lack of knowledge is due to the absence of stable isotopes and the availability in minute amounts that preclude the use of standard analytical methods. Yet, research has shown that At behaves similarly to metals but also to halogens, forming bonds similar to its closest homologue, iodine, such as the carbon-At bond. This strategy is the main approach currently available to develop ²¹¹At-labeled radiopharmaceuticals. Yet, a lack of in vivo stability of the C-At bond is often observed, resulting in the release of ²¹¹At before it reaches its target and leading to irradiation of healthy tissues. Improving this stability is therefore a major challenge that remains to be overcome in order to unleash the potential of ²¹¹At in cancer treatments.
In this context the objective of the SAt-Radio project is to explore alternative bonding modalities to the C-At bond in order to develop novel radiolabeling approaches with improved in vivo stability. The strategies developed will exploit both the halogen and the metallic character of At, using analytical and computational approaches that have recently become available and making possible to elucidate the chemistry of this enigmatic elements at the trace concentration it is available.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-COG
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75794 PARIS
France
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