5 Future Perspectives
Currently, FMI has become a powerful and effective tool for drug development. The
study of specific probes and targets depends on the development of chemistry and
biology, and the FMI tracers do not interfere with the biological process by themselves. The involvement of FMI in metabolic or specific biological processes can
more realistically reflect the physiological and pathological processes occurring in
organisms, such as gene expression, activation of biochemical pathways, protein
interaction, and tracing of cell proliferation and death. Using this noninvasive
method to detect cell function can help evaluate the role of new candidate drugs
under the influence of complex biological responses in animals. The development of
new probes, especially NIR probes, can facilitate the clinical application of this
nonradioactive imaging technology. In the last 10 years, FMI has developed rapidly
for its low cost, non-ionization, and high throughput, and it plays an important role in
all stages of drug development. This technique also has some shortcomings:
1. The detection depth is limited: because of the different wavelengths of the
fluorophores and the influence of light absorption and scattering, optical molecular imaging equipment cannot detect cell activity at deeper depths in vivo.
2. Target selection: in order to apply FMI to monitor the efficacy of drug treatment,
it is necessary to find specific targets for the diseases. Currently, specific targets of
diseases representing the occurrence and development of diseases are not fully
discovered.
3. Probe development: the ideal probe should have a high sensitivity and specificity
for detection and should not cause an immune response and can be easily cleared
by the body. However, the existing FMI probes do not fully meet the above
conditions, and the development of new probes is costly.
4. Clinical trials: safety and effectiveness of the application of fluorescence probes
in the clinical trials or treatments. In summary, the development of new FMI
probes and their application in various stages of drug development will ultimately
improve the efficiency of developing new and effective drugs, reduce the cost of
research and development, and provide a wider and clinical application prospect
in the field of drug development.
Acknowledgments Thanks to Dr. Yang Du, Dr. Chu Tang, and Dr. Yu An for their kind
contribution to writing this chapter. This paper is supported by the National Key Research and
Development Program of China under Grant Nos. 2017YFA0205200, 2016YFA0201401,
2016YFC0103702, and 2016YFC0102000; the National Natural Science Foundation of China
under Grant Nos. 81871514, 81470083, 81227901, 81527805, 61231004, 81601548, and
81772011; the International Innovation Team of CAS under Grant No. 20140491524; and Beijing
Municipal Science and Technology Commission No. Z161100002616022.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Funding: This study was funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant number
2017YFA0205200, 2017YFA0700401), National Natural Science Foundations of China (grant
number 81871514, 81527805), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of
24
J. Tian et al.
Currently, FMI has become a powerful and effective tool for drug development. The
study of specific probes and targets depends on the development of chemistry and
biology, and the FMI tracers do not interfere with the biological process by themselves. The involvement of FMI in metabolic or specific biological processes can
more realistically reflect the physiological and pathological processes occurring in
organisms, such as gene expression, activation of biochemical pathways, protein
interaction, and tracing of cell proliferation and death. Using this noninvasive
method to detect cell function can help evaluate the role of new candidate drugs
under the influence of complex biological responses in animals. The development of
new probes, especially NIR probes, can facilitate the clinical application of this
nonradioactive imaging technology. In the last 10 years, FMI has developed rapidly
for its low cost, non-ionization, and high throughput, and it plays an important role in
all stages of drug development. This technique also has some shortcomings:
1. The detection depth is limited: because of the different wavelengths of the
fluorophores and the influence of light absorption and scattering, optical molecular imaging equipment cannot detect cell activity at deeper depths in vivo.
2. Target selection: in order to apply FMI to monitor the efficacy of drug treatment,
it is necessary to find specific targets for the diseases. Currently, specific targets of
diseases representing the occurrence and development of diseases are not fully
discovered.
3. Probe development: the ideal probe should have a high sensitivity and specificity
for detection and should not cause an immune response and can be easily cleared
by the body. However, the existing FMI probes do not fully meet the above
conditions, and the development of new probes is costly.
4. Clinical trials: safety and effectiveness of the application of fluorescence probes
in the clinical trials or treatments. In summary, the development of new FMI
probes and their application in various stages of drug development will ultimately
improve the efficiency of developing new and effective drugs, reduce the cost of
research and development, and provide a wider and clinical application prospect
in the field of drug development.
Acknowledgments Thanks to Dr. Yang Du, Dr. Chu Tang, and Dr. Yu An for their kind
contribution to writing this chapter. This paper is supported by the National Key Research and
Development Program of China under Grant Nos. 2017YFA0205200, 2016YFA0201401,
2016YFC0103702, and 2016YFC0102000; the National Natural Science Foundation of China
under Grant Nos. 81871514, 81470083, 81227901, 81527805, 61231004, 81601548, and
81772011; the International Innovation Team of CAS under Grant No. 20140491524; and Beijing
Municipal Science and Technology Commission No. Z161100002616022.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Funding: This study was funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant number
2017YFA0205200, 2017YFA0700401), National Natural Science Foundations of China (grant
number 81871514, 81527805), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of
24
J. Tian et al.