Protease probes that enable excimer signaling upon scission.

Peptide-based probes that fluoresce upon proteolytic cleavage are invaluable tools for monitoring protease activity. The read-out of protease activity through pyrene excimer signaling would be a valuable asset because the large Stokes shift and the long lifetime of the excimer emission facilitate measurements in autofluorescent media such as blood serum. However, proteolytic cleavage abolishes rather than installs the proximity relationships required for excimer signaling. Herein, we introduce a new probe architecture to enable the switching on of pyrene excimer emission upon proteolytic scission. The method relies on hairpin-structured peptide nucleic acid (PNA)/peptide hybrids with pyrene units and anthraquinone-based quencher residues positioned in a zipper-like arrangement within the PNA stem. The excimer hairpin peptide beacons afforded up to a 50-fold enhancement of the pyrene excimer emission. Time-resolved measurements allowed the detection of matrix metalloprotease 7 in human blood serum.

Measurement of skin and target dose in post-mastectomy radiotherapy using 4 and 6 MV photon beams.

BACKGROUND: For patients with high risk breast cancer and mastectomy, radiotherapy is the treatment of choice to improve survival and local control. Target dose is mainly limited due to skin reactions. The feasibility of using 4 MV beams for chest wall treatment was studied and compared to standard 6 MV bolus radiotherapy. METHODS: Post-mastectomy IMRT was planned on an Alderson-phantom using 4 and 6 MV photon beams without/with a 0.5 cm thick bolus. Dose was measured using TLDs placed at 8 locations in 1 and 3 mm depth to represent skin and superficial target dose, respectively. RESULTS: 4 MV and 6 MV beams with bolus perform equally regarding target coverage. The minimum and mean superficial target dose for the 6 MV and 4 MV were 93.0% and 94.7%, and 93.1% and 94.4%, respectively. Regarding skin dose the 4 MV photon beam was advantageous. The minimum and mean skin dose for the 6 MV and 4 MV was 76.7% and 81.6%, and 69.4% and 72.9%, respectively. The TPS was able to predict dose in the build-up region with a precision of around 5%. CONCLUSIONS: The use of 4 MV photon beams are a good alternative for treating the thoracic wall without the need to place a bolus on the patient. The main limitation of 4 MV beams is the limited dose rate.