Introduction

The rekindled interest in the (68)Ga generator as an attractive positron emission tomography generator system has led us and others to investigate novel chelate systems for (68)Ga. We have previously reported our findings with the acyclic, rapidly coordinating chelate H(2)dedpa and its model derivatives.

Methods

In this report, we describe the synthesis of the corresponding bifunctional chelate scaffolds (H(2)dp-bb-NCS and H(2)dp-N-NCS) as well as the radiolabeling properties, transferrin stability, binding to the target using in vitro cell models and in vivo behavior the corresponding conjugates with the α(v)β(3) targeting cyclic pentapeptide cRGDyK (monomeric H(2)RGD-1 and dimeric H(2)RGD-2).

Results

The ability of the conjugated ligands to coordinate Ga isotopes within 10 min at room temperature at concentrations of 1 nmol was confirmed. Complex [(67)Ga(RGD-1)](+) was more stable (92% after 2 h) than [(67)Ga(RGD-2)](+) (73% after 2 h) in a transferrin challenge experiment. IC(50) values for both conjugates (H(2)RGD-1 and H(2)RGD-2) and nonconjugated RGD were determined in a cell-based competitive binding assay with (125)I-echistatin using U87MG cells, where enhanced specific binding was observed for the multivalent H(2)RGD-2 conjugate compared to the monovalent H(2)RGD-1 and nonconjugated cRGDyK. The U87MG cell line was also used to generate subcutaneous xenograft tumors on RAG2M mice, which were used to evaluate the in vivo properties of [(68)Ga(RGD-1)](+) and [(68)Ga(RGD-2)](+). After 2 h of dynamic imaging, both block and nonblock mice were sacrificed to collect select organs at the 2-h time point. Although the uptake is specific, as judged from the ratios of nonblock to block (2.36 with [(67)Ga(RGD-1)](+), 1.46 with [(67)Ga(RGD-2)](+)), both conjugates display high uptake in blood.

Conclusions

We have successfully synthesized and applied the first bifunctional versions of H(2)dedpa for conjugation to a targeting vector and subsequent imaging of the corresponding conjugates.