Transglutaminase 2 as a target for functional tumour imaging: From substrates to inhibitors to radiotracers

The talk is covering the efforts of our group in the development of inhibitor-based radiotracers for the imaging of tumour-associated transglutaminase 2. After introducing the biological function of transglutaminase 2, the development of substrates for fluorimetric activity assays will be lined out. Major emphasis will be put on the synthesis, kinetic characterisation and in vitro pharmacokinetic profiling of acrylamide-based irreversible inhibitors. Finally, labelling of these compounds with fluorine-18 and initial results towards their radiopharmacological evaluation will be discussed.