Molecular imaging of human ACE-1 expression in transgenic rats.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop a molecular imaging strategy that can monitor myocardial angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-1 upregulation as a function of progressive heart failure. BACKGROUND: High-affinity technetium-99m-labeled lisinopril (Tc-Lis) has been shown to specifically localize in tissues that express ACE in vivo, such as the lungs. Whether Tc-Lis can also detect upregulation of ACE in the heart, by external in vivo imaging, has not been established. METHODS: Twenty-one ACE-1 over-expressing transgenic (Tg) and 18 wild-type control rats were imaged using in vivo micro single-positron emission computed tomography (SPECT)-computed tomography (CT) at 10, 30, 60, and 120 min after Tc-Lis injection. A subgroup of rats received nonradiolabeled (cold) lisinopril before the Tc-Lis injection to evaluate nonspecific binding. After imaging, the rat myocardium was explanted, ex vivo images were acquired, and percent injected dose per gram gamma-well was counted, followed by an assessment of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-verified ACE activity and messenger ribonucleic acid expression. RESULTS: On micro SPECT-CT, myocardial ACE-1 uptake was best visualized in Tg rats at 120 min after Tc-Lis injection. The quantitative uptake of Tc-Lis in the myocardium was 5-fold higher in mutant Tg than in control rats at each time point after tracer injection. The percent injected dose per gram uptake was 0.74 ± 0.13 in Tg myocardium at 30 min and was reduced substantially to 0.034 ± 0.003% when pre-treated with cold lisinopril (p = 0.029). Enzyme activity assay showed a >30-fold higher level of ACE-1 activity in the myocardium of Tg rats than in controls. The ACE-1 messenger ribonucleic acid was quantified, and lisinopril was found to have no effect on ACE-1 gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: The Tc-Lis binds specifically to ACE, and the activity can be localized in Tg rat hearts that over-express human ACE-1 with a signal intensity that is sufficiently high to allow external imaging. Such a molecular imaging strategy may help identify susceptibility to heart failure and may allow optimization of pharmacologic intervention.

Tumor-targeted HPMA copolymer-(RGDfK)-(CHX-A''-DTPA) conjugates show increased kidney accumulation.

N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer-RGDfK conjugates targeting the alpha(v)beta(3) integrin have shown increased accumulation in solid tumors and promise for selective delivery of radiotherapeutics to sites of angiogenesis- or tumor-expressed alpha(v)beta(3) integrin. An unresolved issue in targeting radiotherapeutics to solid tumors is toxicity to non-target organs. To reduce toxicity of radiolabeled conjugates, we have synthesized HPMA copolymer-RGDfK conjugates with varying molecular weight and charge content to help identify a polymeric structure that maximizes tumor accumulation while rapidly clearing from non-targeted organs. Endothelial cell binding studies showed that copolymer conjugates of approximately 43, 20 and 10 kD actively bind to the alpha(v)beta(3) integrin. Scintigraphic images showed rapid clearance of indium-111 ((111)In) radiolabeled conjugates from the blood pool and high kidney accumulation within 1 h in tumor bearing mice. Biodistribution data confirms images with high accumulation in kidney (max 210% ID/g for 43 kD conjugate) and lower tumor accumulation (max 1.8% ID/g for 43 kD conjugate). While actively binding to the alpha(v)beta(3) integrin in vitro, HPMA copolymer-RGDfK conjugates with increased negative charge through increased CHX-A''-DTPA chelator content in the side chains causes increased kidney accumulation with a loss of tumor accumulation in vivo.

An assessment of radionuclidic impurities of (210)Po produced via neutron irradiation of (209)Bi for use in targeted alpha-particle radiotherapy.

Radionuclidic impurities of (210)Po prepared by neutron irradiation of (209)Bi via the (209)Bi(n,gamma)(210)Bi reaction were investigated. Following irradiation and ingrowth, a pure (210)Po solution was obtained by sublimation and dissolution. Results were obtained by liquid scintillation (LS) counting, isotope dilution alpha (alpha)-spectrometry, and high-purity germanium gamma-ray spectrometry. No alpha-emitting (3-10MeV) or gamma-emitting (30-3600keV) impurities were detected, with calculated lower limits of detection for impurities of approximately 0.01% (210)Po activity. LS spectra revealed no identifiable beta-emitting impurity. LS sources prepared using Opti-Phase 'Hi Safe' III and Opti-Fluor LS cocktails were stable over a 4-day multi-cycle counting period for (210)Po dissolved in 0.1% trifluoracetic acid (pH approximately 2, water fraction approximately 2%). The radioactivity concentration determined by LS counting was verified by isotope dilution alpha spectrometry. These results suggest that neutron irradiation of (209)Bi (followed by sublimation) can produce (210)Po in a highly pure form that is suitable for radiopharmaceutical preparations.

Polymeric conjugates of mono- and bi-cyclic alphaVbeta3 binding peptides for tumor targeting.

The alphaVbeta3 integrin plays important roles in tumor-induced angiogenesis and tumor metastasis and hence, many small molecule alphaVbeta3 ligands have been developed for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Although these show good alphaVbeta3 targeting, most have suboptimal pharmacokinetics and show rapid tumor washout. We studied the biodistribution and tumor targeting properties of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer based conjugates of mono-(RGDfK) and doubly cyclized (RGD4C) alphaVbeta3 binding peptides. Endothelial cell adhesion studies showed similar affinity of HPMA-RGD4C and HPMA-RGDfK conjugate for alphaVbeta3 integrins. Scintigraphic images of tumor bearing mice demonstrated that both conjugates showed tumor localization at 24 h post-injection and were retained at the tumor site until 192 h, whereas the efficient background clearance was observed over time. Necropsy organ counts showed that tumor accumulation of both HPMA-RGD4C and HPMA-RGDfK conjugates increased over time with peak accumulations at 4.9 +/- 0.9% and 5.0 +/- 1.2% ID/g, respectively. In contrast the background organ distribution rapidly cleared over time resulting in significant increases of tumor-to-background ratios. The radioactive dose as indicated by the area under curve (HPMA-RGD4C: 4825.3 microCi/g h and HPMA-RGDfK: 4424.9 microCi/g h) was highest for the tumor. The polymer conjugates of RGD4C or RGDfK provide a means to enhance tumor uptake, decrease background accumulation, and enable selective delivery of therapeutic or diagnostic agents to tumor sites.