Helmut R. Maecke

Indication for different mechanisms of kidney uptake of radiolabeled peptides.

Nephrotoxicity due to renal reabsorption of radiolabeled peptides limits the tumor dose in peptide receptor radiotherapy (PRRT). Therefore, we evaluated the ability of several agents to inhibit the renal accumulation of different radiopeptides. Methods: Male Wistar rats (4 per group) were injected intravenously with 1 MBq of 111In-labeled octreotide (OCT), minigastrin (MG), bombesin (BOM), or exendin (EX), together with a potential inhibitor of renal uptake (lysine [Lys], poly-glutamic acid [PGA], and Gelofusine [GF], a gelatin-based plasma expander) or phosphate-buffered saline as a control. Organ uptake at 20 h after injection was determined as the percentage of injected activity per gram (%IA/g). Lys, PGA, and GF were also combined to determine whether an additive effect could be obtained. The localization of the peptides in the kidneys was investigated by autoradiography using a phosphor imager. Results: OCT accumulation in the kidney was inhibited by Lys and GF (40.7%–45.1%), whereas PGA was ineffective. On the other hand, renal uptake of BOM, MG, and EX was inhibited by PGA and GF (15.4%–85.4%), whereas Lys was ineffective. The combination of GF and Lys showed additive effects in inhibiting OCT uptake, whereas PGA and GF had additive effects for the inhibition of EX uptake. The amount of kidney uptake correlated with the number of charged amino acids. All radiopeptides were localized in the renal cortex, as indicated by autoradiography. Conclusion: Inhibition of renal accumulation of the radiopeptides tested could be achieved by either Lys or PGA but not by both at the same time, suggesting 2 different uptake mechanisms. The differences in renal accumulation of radiopeptides may be related to the number of charges of a molecule. GF is the only compound that inhibited renal accumulation of all radiopeptides tested. Additional experiments are needed to further elucidate these findings and to optimize inhibition of renal accumulation of radiopeptides to reduce the kidney dose in PRRT.

68Ga-PET radiopharmacy: A generator-based alternative to 18F-radiopharmacy.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is becoming a dominating method in the field of molecular imaging. Most commonly used radionuclides are accelerator produced 11C and 18F. An alternative method to label biomolecules is the use of metallic positron emitters; among them 68Ga is the most promising as it can be produced from a generator system consisting of an inorganic or organic matrix immobilizing the parent radionuclide 68Ge. Germanium-68 has a long half-life of 271 days which allows the production of long-lived, potentially very cost-effective generator systems. A commercial generator from Obninsk, Russia, is available which uses TiO2 as an inorganic matrix to immobilize 68Ge in the oxidation state IV+. 68Ge(IV) is chemically sufficiently different to allow efficient separation from 68Ga(III). Ga3+ is redox-inert; its coordination chemistry is dominated by its hard acid character. A variety of mono- and bifunctional chelators were developed which allow immobilization of 68Ga3+ and convenient coupling to biomolecules. Especially peptides targeting G-protein coupled receptors overexpressed on human tumour cells have been studied preclinically and in patient studies showing high and specific tumour uptake and specific localization. 68Ga-radiopharmacy may indeed be an alternative to 18F-based radiopharmacy. Freeze-dried, kit-formulated precursors along with the generator may be provided, similar to the 99Mo/99mTc-based radiopharmacy, still the mainstay of nuclear medicine.

1,4,7-Triazacyclononane-1-succinic acid-4,7-diacetic acid (NODASA): a new bifunctional chelator for radio gallium-labelling of biomolecules

A new bifunctional chelator NODASA (1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1-succinic acid-4,7-diacetic acid) has been synthesised, its kinetically inert gallium(III) complex was crystallographically characterized and conjugated to a model aminoacidamide showing the feasibility of a prelabelling approach with 68,67Ga.

Synthesis and physicochemical characterization of a novel precursor for covalently bound macromolecular MRI contrast agents

Abstract The ligand DOTASA was designed and synthesized in the aim of obtaining a kinetically and thermodynamically stable Gd(III) chelate which, through its uncoordinated carboxylate function, will provide an efficient pathway to couple the complex to bio- or macromolecules without affecting the coordination pattern of DOTA. Furthermore, it allows us to study the influence of an extra carboxylate arm on the parameters determining proton relaxivity in comparison to the commercial agent [Gd(DOTA)(H2O)]–. A combined variable-temperature 17O NMR, EPR and nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion study on the Gd(III) chelate resulted in k298ex=(6.3±0.2)×106 s–1 for the water exchange rate and τ298R=125±2 ps for the rotational correlation time. The slight increase in both k298ex and τ298R, as compared to those for [Gd(DOTA)(H2O)]–, is attributed to the presence of the extra negative charge. The longer rotational correlation time results in a proton relaxivity of 5.03 mM–1 s–1 for [Gd(DOTASA)(H2O)]2–, which is approximately 30% higher than that for [Gd(DOTA)(H2O)]–. The increased water exchange rate of [Gd(DOTASA)(H2O)]2– has no consequence for proton relaxivity since this latter is exclusively limited by fast rotation for both complexes. However, for slowly rotating macromolecular agents, which contain a covalently coupled DOTASA unit instead of a coupled DOTA, this increased exchange rate will have a significant positive effect.