Background: MeICT is the first chlorotoxin-like peptide isolated from the Iranian Scorpion Mesobuthus eupeus. Chlorotoxin (CTX) is a neurotoxin that specially binds to (MMP-2) on ma-lignant cells and now is used in treatment of glioma. In the present study, we have used homology modeling to propose the 3D structure of MeICTand analyze its interaction with MMP-2 and its SNP types. Methods:The ...

We report the development of neurotoxin-mediated upconversion nanoprobes for tumor targeting and visualization in living animals. The nanoprobes were synthesized by preparing polyethylenimine-coated hexagonal-phase NaYF(4):Yb,Er/Ce nanoparticles and conjugating them with recombinant chlorotoxin, a typical peptide neurotoxin that could bind with high specificity to many types of cancer cells. Na...

Gliomas are primary brain tumors that arise from differentiated glial cells through a poorly understood malignant transformation. Although glioma cells retain some genetic and antigenic features common to glial cells, they show a remarkable degree of antigenic heterogeneity and variable mutations in their genome. Glioma cells have recently been shown to express a glioma-specific chloride ion ch...

Clinical diagnosis of cancers using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is highly dependent on contrast agents, especially for brain tumors which contain blood-brain barrier (BBB) at the early stage. However, currently mostly used low molecular weight contrast agents such as Gd-DTPA suffer from rapid renal clearance, non-specificity, and low contrast efficiency. The aim of this paper is to investi...