Molecular docking and preliminary bioevaluation of ^99mTc-Thiadiazuron as a novel potential agent for cervical cancer imaging

Thidiazuron (TDZ) was reported to possess anti-cancer activity against Human cervical carcinoma cell line, so that this study has been conducted for the radiolabeling of TDZ with Technetium-99m. The conditions of the radiolabeling process were optimized and a high radiochemical yield of 93.1 ± 0.35% has been obtained. Molecular docking study illustrated that [^99mTc]technetium bisthiadiazuron (^99mTc-TDZ) complex has the ability to bind with Caspase-3 protein that over expressed in cancers. Its in-vivo biodistribution on solid tumor bearing mice showed comparatively high T/NT ratio of 6.87 ± 0.14 at 60 min post injection. These promising characteristics make our new designed labeled conjugate a very suitable candidate for molecular imaging of solid tumors, particularly in the cervix. (author)