Engineering antibodies and proteins for molecular in vivo imaging

The rapid and ongoing discovery of new disease related biomarkers leads to a dramatic paradigm change in human healthcare and constitutes the basis for a truly personalized medicine. Molecular imaging enables early detection and classification of human diseases and provides valuable data for optimized, target-oriented therapies. By now, the biochemical and physiological properties of antibody derivatives or alternative protein scaffolds can be engineered for the detection of a wide range of target structures. The successful application of these reagents in animals, xenograft models and cells in preclinical research clearly demonstrate their utility for molecular imaging. Despite these promising perspectives, only a few antibodies and recombinant proteins are used yet for molecular imaging in human medicine. Especially the high safety demands and the need to eliminate off target effects in humans require extensive research and development efforts.