Preparation and evaluation of a radiogallium complex-conjugated bisphosphonate as a bone scintigraphy agent

金沢大学医薬保健研究域薬学系Introduction: 68Ga is a radionuclide of great interest as a positron emitter for positron emission tomography (PET). To develop a new bone-imaging agent with radiogallium, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) was chosen as a chelating site and Ga-DOTA complex-conjugated bisphosphonate, which has a high affinity for bone, was prepared and evaluated. Although we are interested in developing 68Ga-labeled bone imaging agents for PET, in these initial studies 67Ga was used because of its longer half-life. Methods: DOTA-conjugated bisphosphonate (DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP) was synthesized by conjugation of 2-(4-isothiocyanatebenzyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid to 4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (alendronate). 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP was prepared by coordination with 67Ga, and its in vitro and in vivo evaluations were performed. Results: 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP was prepared with a radiochemical purity of over 95% without purification. 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP had great affinity for hydroxyapatite in binding assay. In biodistribution experiments, 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP accumulated in bone rapidly but was hardly observed in tissues other than bone. Pretreatment of an excess amount of alendronate inhibited the bone accumulation of 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP. Conclusions: 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP showed ideal biodistribution characteristics as a bone-imaging agent. These findings should provide useful information on the drug design of bone imaging agents for PET with 68Ga. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Development of novel radiogallium-labeled bone imaging agents using oligo-aspartic acid peptides as carriers

金沢大学疾患モデル総合研究センター68Ga (T1/2 = 68 min, a generator-produced nuclide) has great potential as a radionuclide for clinical positron emission tomography (PET). Because poly-glutamic and poly-aspartic acids have high affinity for hydroxyapatite, to develop new bone targeting 68Ga-labeled bone imaging agents for PET, we used 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10- tetraacetic acid (DOTA) as a chelating site and conjugated aspartic acid peptides of varying lengths. Subsequently, we compared Ga complexes, Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n (n = 2, 5, 8, 11, or 14) with easy-to-handle 67Ga, with the previously described 67Ga-DOTA complex conjugated bisphosphonate, 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP. After synthesizing DOTA-(Asp)n by a Fmoc-based solid-phase method, complexes were formed with 67Ga, resulting in 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n with a radiochemical purity of over 95% after HPLC purification. In hydroxyapatite binding assays, the binding rate of 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n increased with the increase in the length of the conjugated aspartate peptide. Moreover, in biodistribution experiments, 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp) 8, 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp)11, and 67Ga-DOTA- (Asp)14 showed high accumulation in bone (10.5±1.5, 15.1±2.6, and 12.8±1.7% ID/g, respectively) but were barely observed in other tissues at 60 min after injection. Although bone accumulation of 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n was lower than that of 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP, blood clearance of 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n was more rapid. Accordingly, the bone/blood ratios of 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp) 11 and 67Ga-DOTA-(Asp)14 were comparable with those of 67Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP. In conclusion, these data provide useful insights into the drug design of 68Ga-PET tracers for the diagnosis of bone disorders, such as bone metastases. © 2013 Ogawa et al.CC-BY 4.

Development of novel radiogallium-labeled bone imaging agents using oligo-aspartic acid peptides as carriers.

(68)Ga (T 1/2 = 68 min, a generator-produced nuclide) has great potential as a radionuclide for clinical positron emission tomography (PET). Because poly-glutamic and poly-aspartic acids have high affinity for hydroxyapatite, to develop new bone targeting (68)Ga-labeled bone imaging agents for PET, we used 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) as a chelating site and conjugated aspartic acid peptides of varying lengths. Subsequently, we compared Ga complexes, Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n (n = 2, 5, 8, 11, or 14) with easy-to-handle (67)Ga, with the previously described (67)Ga-DOTA complex conjugated bisphosphonate, (67)Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP. After synthesizing DOTA-(Asp)n by a Fmoc-based solid-phase method, complexes were formed with (67)Ga, resulting in (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n with a radiochemical purity of over 95% after HPLC purification. In hydroxyapatite binding assays, the binding rate of (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n increased with the increase in the length of the conjugated aspartate peptide. Moreover, in biodistribution experiments, (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)8, (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)11, and (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)14 showed high accumulation in bone (10.5 ± 1.5, 15.1 ± 2.6, and 12.8 ± 1.7% ID/g, respectively) but were barely observed in other tissues at 60 min after injection. Although bone accumulation of (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n was lower than that of (67)Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP, blood clearance of (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)n was more rapid. Accordingly, the bone/blood ratios of (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)11 and (67)Ga-DOTA-(Asp)14 were comparable with those of (67)Ga-DOTA-Bn-SCN-HBP. In conclusion, these data provide useful insights into the drug design of (68)Ga-PET tracers for the diagnosis of bone disorders, such as bone metastases

Biodistribution of radioactivity after intravenous administration of ⁶⁷Ga-DOTA-(Asp)₂ in mice.^a

<p>^a Expressed as % injected dose. Each value represents the mean (SD) for five animals.</p><p>^b Expressed as % injected dose.</p><p>^c Femur:blood ratio.</p

RP-HPLC chromatograms.

<p>RP-HPLC chromatograms of (A) nonradioactive Ga-DOTA-(Asp)₁₄ and (B) ⁶⁷Ga-DOTA-(Asp)₁₄. Conditions: A flow rate of 1 mL/min with a gradient mobile phase of 100% water containing 0.1% TFA to 20% methanol in water containing 0.1% TFA for 20 minutes.</p

Biodistribution of radioactivity after intravenous administration of ⁶⁷Ga-DOTA-(Asp)₁₁ in mice.^a

<p>^a Expressed as % injected dose. Each value represents the mean (SD) for five animals.</p><p>^b Expressed as % injected dose.</p><p>^c Femur:blood ratio.</p