Role of Peptides in Diagnostics

Area of Science:

• Biomolecular diagnostics
• Medical imaging
• Assay development

Background:

• Diagnostic assay specificity relies on probe biomolecule purity.
• Synthetic peptides offer high purity and chemical modification for disease diagnostics.
• Peptide probes are utilized in both imaging and non-imaging diagnostic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and evaluate the role of synthetic peptides in diagnostic applications.
• To categorize and rank popular peptide-based imaging and non-imaging diagnostic platforms.
• To discuss the application of peptide diagnostics in critical diseases like cancer and COVID-19.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and analysis of scientific contributions on PubMed.
• Categorization and ranking of diagnostic platforms based on scientific impact.
• Evaluation of peptide properties for diagnostic utility (purity, modification, clearance, penetration, immunogenicity, stability).

Main Results:

• Peptide-based Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) is a preferred non-imaging platform.
• Radiolabeled peptides are established tools for targeted molecular and tumor receptor imaging (e.g., SPECT, PET).
• Low molecular weight peptides offer rapid blood clearance, good tissue penetration, and non-immunogenicity, though metabolic stability can be a limitation.

Conclusions:

• Synthetic peptides are vital for accurate disease diagnosis, applicable in both imaging and non-imaging modalities.
• Peptide diagnostics show significant potential in combating diseases such as cancer and COVID-19.
• Further research into improving peptide metabolic stability is warranted to maximize their diagnostic potential.