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Unlabelled: Radiolabeled amino acids are superior PET tracers for the imaging of malignant tumors, and amino acids labeled with (76)Br, an attractive positron emitter because of its relatively long half-life (16.2 h), could potentially be a widely usable tumor imaging tracer. In this study, in consideration of its stability and tumor specificity, we designed two (76)Br-labeled amino acid derivatives, 2-(76)Br-bromo-α-methyl-l-phenylalanine (2-(76)Br-BAMP) and 4-(76)Br-bromo-α-methyl-l-phenylalanine (4-(76)Br-BAMP), and investigated their potential as tumor imaging agents., Methods: Both (76)Br- and (77)Br-labeled amino acid derivatives were prepared. We performed in vitro and in vivo stability studies and cellular uptake studies using the LS180 colon adenocarcinoma cell line. Biodistribution studies in normal mice and in LS180 tumor-bearing mice were performed, and the tumors were imaged with a small-animal PET scanner., Results: Both (77)Br-BAMPs were stable in the plasma and in the murine body. Although both (77)Br-BAMPs were taken up by LS180 cells and the uptake was inhibited by L-type amino acid transporter 1 inhibitors, 2-(77)Br-BAMP exhibited higher uptake than 4-(77)Br-BAMP. In the biodistribution studies, 2-(77)Br-BAMP showed more rapid blood clearance and lower renal accumulation than 4-(77)Br-BAMP. More than 90% of the injected radioactivity was excreted in the urine by 6 h after the injection of 2-(77)Br-BAMP. High tumor accumulation of 2-(77)Br-BAMP was observed in tumor-bearing mice, and PET imaging with 2-(76)Br-BAMP enabled clear visualization of the tumors., Conclusion: 2-(77)Br-BAMP exhibited preferred pharmacokinetics and high LS180 tumor accumulation, and 2-(76)Br-BAMP enabled clear visualization of the tumors by PET imaging. These findings suggest that 2-(76)Br-BAMP could constitute a potential new PET tracer for tumor imaging and may eventually enable the wider use of amino acid tracers., (© 2015 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.)

Unlabelled: Preoperative noninvasive imaging to estimate the quantity and spatial distribution of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) accumulation in tumors induced by 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) administration is expected to improve the efficacy of ALA-based fluorescence-guided resection and photo- and sonodynamic therapies. PpIX synthesis from exogenous ALA has been reported to be regulated by ALA influx or ALA dehydratase (ALAD) activity, which catalyzes the first step of the synthesis. In this study, we characterized the properties of a (11)C-labeled ALA analog, 5-amino-4-oxo-[6-(11)C]hexanoic acid ((11)C-MALA), as a PET tracer to estimate PpIX accumulation., Methods: In vitro uptake of (11)C-MALA and (3)H-ALA was determined in 5 tumor cell lines after 10-min incubation with each tracer at 37°C. The expression levels of ALAD were determined by Western blot analysis. In vivo distribution and dynamic PET studies were conducted in tumor-bearing mice. In vitro and in vivo accumulation of ALA-induced PpIX was determined by measuring fluorescence in extracts of cells or tumors., Results: In vitro uptake of (11)C-MALA in 5 tumor cell lines was correlated with ALAD expression levels and PpIX accumulation. In vivo biodistribution and dynamic PET studies showed that (11)C-MALA was rapidly incorporated into tumors, and the tumor-to-muscle ratio of (11)C-MALA at 1 min after injection was significantly correlated with that of (3)H-ALA. (11)C-MALA in tumors was continuously decreased thereafter, and the elimination rate of (11)C-MALA from AsPC-1 tumors with the highest ALAD expression level was slower than from other tumors with lower expression levels. These results suggest that the influx and intracellular retention of (11)C-MALA reflect ALA influx and ALAD expression levels, respectively. Tumor accumulation of (11)C-MALA at 60 min after injection was strongly correlated with PpIX accumulation in tumor tissues., Conclusion: (11)C-MALA PET has the potential to noninvasively estimate the quantitative and spatial accumulation of exogenous ALA-induced PpIX., (© 2014 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.)

Unlabelled: Radiolabeled avidin markedly accumulated in intraperitoneal tumors and was cleared rapidly from circulation when given intraperitoneally. This study investigated the mechanisms of the tumor localization of avidin., Methods: Avidin was deglycosylated through endoglycosydase-H digestion and/or neutralized by acetylation of its lysine amino acids with acetic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester. Avidin and modified avidins were analyzed using sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE) and isoelectric focusing. A tumor model was established by intraperitoneal injection of human colon cancer cells, LS180, in nude mice. Avidin and modified avidins were labeled with 111In using diethyleneamine pentaacetic acid-biotin and were administered intraperitoneally into the tumor-bearing mice. The biodistribution of radioactivity was examined 2 and 24 h postinjection., Results: Deglycosylated avidins revealed a major band of smaller molecules on SDS/PAGE. The isoelectric point of neutralized avidins was reduced to less than 5, whereas that of unneutralized avidins was more than 9.5. Biodistribution study demonstrated that liver uptake was decreased by deglycosylation and kidney accumulation was decreased by neutralization, respectively. The blood clearance was remarkably slowed by combined modification of deglycosylation and neutralization. The tumor uptake of radioactivity was reduced by either deglycosylation or neutralization and was further decreased with combined modification., Conclusion: Both high glycosylation and positive charge of avidin contributed to its accumulation in tumor. This study may facilitate development of a new vehicle for the delivery of therapeutic agents to intraperitoneal tumors.

Unlabelled: Since the lysosome is a common organelle for protein digestion, pursuing the fate of radiolabeled metabolites after lysosomal proteolysis in liver cells is ideal to evaluate bifunctional chelating agents (BCAs)., Methods: We used galactosyl-neoglycoalbumin (NGA) and mannosyl-neoglycoalbumin (NMA) as carrier proteins for hepatic parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells, respectively. These proteins were labeled with 111In using 1-(4-isothiocyanatobenzyl)ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (SCN-Bz-EDTA) as a model., Results: NGA-SCN-Bz-EDTA-111In exhibited rapid accumulation in the hepatic parenchymal cells, followed by hepatobiliary excretion of the metabolites with an elimination rate that was faster and much slower than that of NGA-DTPA-111In and NGA-131I, respectively. This metabolite represented all the radioactivity registered in the liver at 1 hr postinjection. Subcellular distribution studies indicated the metabolites were located only in the lysosome fraction, and the difference in elimination rates of the metabolites from the lysosome fraction was responsible for the variations in radioactivity clearance from the cells., Conclusion: The biological characteristics of radiolabeled metabolites play a critical role in eliminating the radiolabel from liver cells. The present method portrays a highly useful model to pursue the fate of radiolabeled metabolites in the liver.

Unlabelled: To achieve high and selective target radioactivity localization by monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) labeled with metallic radionuclides, the discriminated release of a hippurate-like radiometal chelate in nontarget tissues was performed using chemically modified Mabs., Methods: The disulfide bonds of a Mab against osteogenic sarcoma (OST7, IgG1) were reduced and 67Ga chelate of succinyldeferoxamine (SDF) was conjugated proximal to the Mab molecule via an ester bond with exposed thiol groups (67Ga-DFO-MESS-redOST7), which would impair esterase access to the ester bond of 67Ga-DFO-MESS-redOST7 due to the steric interference induced by bulky antibody molecule, stabilizing the ester bond in plasma and on the target cell's surface. Gallium-67-SDF was also conjugated to OST7 via an ester bond with 2-iminothiolane to render the ester bond in a position distal from the OST7 molecule (67Ga-DFO-MESS-IT-OST7)., Results: Although SDS-PAGE analyses of 67Ga-DFO-MESS-redOST7 showed a partial cleavage of its disulfide bonds, size-exclusion HPLC and cell binding assays indicated that the IgG structure and immunoreactivity of this conjugate were preserved in a neutral buffer and plasma of the systemic circulation., Conclusion: The present radiochemical design of an antibody utilizing pH-dependent dissociation would constitute a promising approach in establishing selective target radioactivity localization by Mabs.

Recent availability of monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) and their radiolabeling through the use of the bifunctional chelating agents (BCA) have become an alternative procedure for in vivo radioimmunodetection. Using a newly synthesized BCA, a p-carboxyethylphenylglyoxal-di(N-methylthiosemicarbazone) (CE-DTS), the coupling and technetium-99m (99mTc) labeling of monoclonal IgG against hCG were carried out. In the system presented, factors affecting stability and immunoreactivity were examined. Immunoreactivity of the original IgG (56C) was preserved by conjugating one CE-DTS molecule per molecule of IgG (56C) using the phosphorylazide method, however, 99mTc labeling pH affected the immunoreactivity and limited the 99mTc labeling reaction between pH 4.5 and 6.2. A screening of labeling conditions, such as pH, reaction time, and reducing agent system were then carried out. Technetium-99m-labeled IgG (56C), [99mTc]CE-DTS-IgG (56C), showed good stability upon incubation with mice sera and comparable mice biodistribution to that of indium-111 (111In) DTPA-IgG (56C). Thus, these results indicate the excellent potential of CE-DTS as a BCA for labeling MoAb with 99mTc.