Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
, Thomas P. Quinn 2,3,41 College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
2 Department of Biochemistry, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
3 Department of Radiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
4 Harry S. Truman Memorial Veteran Hospital, Columbia, MO 65201, USA
Abstract
Melanocortin-1 (MC1) receptor is an attractive melanoma-specific target over-expressed on the surface of melanoma cells. Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) peptide analogues can specifically bind MC1 receptors with nanomolar binding affinities, making alpha-MSH peptide analogues very promising candidates for developing effective melanoma-specific imaging probes. This review highlights the strategies being used to design alpha-MSH peptide radiopharmaceuticals to target MC1 receptors and some recent developments of radiolabeled alpha-MSH peptide analogues for melanoma imaging.