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Influence of composition of cysteine-containing peptide-based chelators on biodistribution of 99mTc-labeled anti-EGFR affibody molecules.

ABSTRACT: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in a number of cancers and is the molecular target for several anti-cancer therapeutics. Radionuclide molecular imaging of EGFR expression should enable personalization of anti-cancer treatment. Affibody molecule is a promising type of high-affinity imaging probes based on a non-immunoglobulin scaffold. A series of derivatives of the anti-EGFR affibody molecule ZEGFR:2377, having peptide-based cysteine-containing chelators for conjugation of 99mTc, was designed and evaluated. It was found that glutamate-containing chelators Gly-Gly-Glu-Cys (GGEC), Gly-Glu-Glu-Cys (GEEC) and Glu-Glu-Glu-Cys (EEEC) provide the best labeling stability. The glutamate containing conjugates bound to EGFR-expressing cells specifically and with high affinity. Specific targeting of EGFR-expressing xenografts in mice was demonstrated. The number of glutamate residues in the chelator had strong influence on biodistribution of radiolabeled affibody molecules. Increase of glutamate content was associated with lower uptake in normal tissues. The 99mTc-labeled variant containing the EEEC chelator provided the highest tumor-to-organ ratios. In conclusion, optimizing the composition of peptide-based chelators enhances contrast of imaging of EGFR-expression using affibody molecules.

SUBMITTER: Oroujeni M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6060960 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:UnlabelledEpidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is often overexpressed in a variety of human cancers, and its expression is associated with poor prognosis for many cancer types. However, an accurate technique to noninvasively image EGFR expression in vivo is not available in the clinical setting. In this research, an Affibody analog, anti-EGFR Ac-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907), was successfully site-specifically (18)F-labeled for PET of EGFR expression.MethodsThe prosthetic group N-[2-(4-(18)F-fluorobenzamido) ethyl] maleimide ((18)F-FBEM) was conjugated to Ac-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) under mild conditions (pH 7) to produce the probe (18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907). The binding affinity and specificity tests of (18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) to EGFR were conducted using A431 cancer cells. Small-animal PET and biodistribution studies were conducted on various mice tumor xenograft models with EGFR overexpression (6 types) after injection of approximately 2.0 MBq of (18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) with or without coinjection of unlabeled Ac-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) for up to 3 h after injection. A correlation study between (18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) small- animal PET quantification and ex vivo Western blot analysis of tumor EGFR expression was conducted in those 6 types of tumor models.Results(18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) binds to EGFR with low nanomolar affinity (37 nM) in A431 cells. (18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) rapidly accumulated in the tumor and cleared from most of the normal organs except the liver and kidneys at 3 h after injection, allowing excellent tumor-to-normal tissue contrast to be obtained. In the A431 tumor xenograft model, coinjection of the PET probe with 45 μg of Ac-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) was able to improve the tumor uptake (3.9 vs. 8.1 percentage of the injected radioactive dose per gram of tissue, at 3 h after injection) and tumor imaging contrast, whereas coinjection with 500 μg of Ac-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) successfully blocked the tumor uptake significantly (8.1 vs. 1.0 percentage of the injected radioactive dose per gram of tissue, at 3 h after injection, 88% inhibition, P < 0.05). Moderate correlation was found between the tumor tracer uptake at 3 h after injection quantified by PET and EGFR expression levels measured by Western blot assay (P = 0.007, R = 0.59).Conclusion(18)F-FBEM-Cys-Z(EGFR:1907) is a novel protein scaffold-based PET probe for imaging EGFR overexpression of tumors, and its ability to differentiate tumors with high and low EGFR expression in vivo holds promise for future clinical translation.

Project description:This study sought to evaluate the impact of multiple negative charges on blood clearance kinetics and biodistribution properties of (99m)Tc-labeled RGD peptide dimers. Bioconjugates HYNIC-P6G-RGD2 and HYNIC-P6D-RGD2 were prepared by reacting P6G-RGD2 and P6D-RGD2, respectively, with excess HYNIC-OSu in the presence of diisopropylethylamine. Their IC50 values were determined to be 31 ± 5 and 41 ± 6 nM, respectively, against (125)I-echistatin bound to U87MG glioma cells in a whole-cell displacement assay. Complexes [(99m)Tc(HYNIC-P6G-RGD2)(tricine)(TPPTS)] ((99m)Tc-P6G-RGD2) and [(99m)Tc(HYNIC-P6D-RGD2)(tricine)(TPPTS)] ((99m)Tc-P6D-RGD2) were prepared in high radiochemical purity (RCP > 95%) and specific activity (37-110 GBq/μmol). They were evaluated in athymic nude mice bearing U87MG glioma xenografts for their biodistribution. The most significant difference between (99m)Tc-P6D-RGD2 and (99m)Tc-P6G-RGD2 was their blood radioactivity levels and tumor uptake. The initial blood radioactivity level for (99m)Tc-P6D-RGD2 (4.71 ± 1.00%ID/g) was ∼5× higher than that of (99m)Tc-P6G-RGD2 (0.88 ± 0.05%ID/g), but this difference disappeared at 60 min p.i. (99m)Tc-P6D-RGD2 had much lower tumor uptake (2.20-3.11%ID/g) than (99m)Tc-P6G-RGD2 (7.82-9.27%ID/g) over a 2 h period. Since HYNIC-P6D-RGD2 and HYNIC-P6G-RGD2 shared a similar integrin αvβ3 binding affinity (41 ± 6 nM versus 31 ± 5 nM), the difference in their blood activity and tumor uptake is most likely related to the nine negative charges and high protein binding of (99m)Tc-P6D-RGD2. Despite its low uptake in U87MG tumors, the tumor uptake of (99m)Tc-P6D-RGD2 was integrin αvβ3-specific. SPECT/CT studies were performed using (99m)Tc-P6G-RGD2 in athymic nude mice bearing U87MG glioma and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer xenografts. The SPECT/CT data demonstrated the tumor-targeting capability of (99m)Tc-P6G-RGD2, and its tumor uptake depends on the integrin αvβ3 expression levels on tumor cells and neovasculature. It was concluded that the multiple negative charges have a significant impact on the blood clearance kinetics and tumor uptake of (99m)Tc-labeled dimeric cyclic RGD peptides.

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Influence of composition of cysteine-containing peptide-based chelators on biodistribution of 99mTc-labeled anti-EGFR affibody molecules.

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