The application of poorly crystalline silicotitanate in production of 225Ac.

Actinium-225 (225Ac) can be produced from a Thorium-229/Radium-225 (229Th/225Ra) generator, from high/low energy proton irradiated natural Thorium or Radium-226 target. Titanium based ion exchanger were evaluated for purification of 225Ac. Poorly crystalline silicotitanate (PCST) ion exchanger had high selectivity for Ba, Ag and Th. 225Ac was received with trace amounts of 227Ac, 227Th and 223Ra, and the solution was used to evaluate the retention of the isotopes on PCST ion exchanger. Over 90% of the 225Ac was recovered from PCST, and the radiopurity was >99% (calculated based on 225Ac, 227Th, and 223Ra). The capacity of the PCST inorganic ion exchange for Barium and 232Th was determined to be 24.19 mg/mL for Barium and 5.05 mg/mL for Thorium. PCST ion exchanger could separate 225Ac from isotopes of Ra and Th, and the process represents an interesting one step separation that could be used in an 225Ac generator from 225Ra and/or 229Th. Capacity studies indicated PCST could be used to separate 225Ac produced on small 226Ra targets (0.3-1 g), but PCST did not have a high enough capacity for production scale Th targets (50-100 g).

Optimization of Cation Exchange for the Separation of Actinium-225 from Radioactive Thorium, Radium-223 and Other Metals.

Actinium-225 (225Ac) can be produced with a linear accelerator by proton irradiation of a thorium (Th) target, but the Th also underdoes fission and produces 400 other radioisotopes. No research exists on optimization of the cation step for the purification. The research herein examines the optimization of the cation exchange step for the purification of 225Ac. The following variables were tested: pH of load solution (1.5-4.6); rinse steps with various concentrations of HCl, HNO3, H2SO4, and combinations of HCl and HNO3; various thorium chelators to block retention; MP50 and AG50 resins; and retention of 20-45 elements with different rinse sequences. The research indicated that HCl removes more isotopes earlier than HNO3, but that some elements, such as barium and radium, could be eluted with ≥2.5 M HNO3. The optimal pH of the load solution was 1.5-2.0, and the optimized rinse sequence was five bed volumes (BV) of 1 M citric acid pH 2.0, 3 BV of water, 3 BV of 2 M HNO3, 6 BV of 2.5 M HNO3 and 20 BV of 6 M HNO3. The sequence recovered >90% of 225Ac with minimal 223Ra and thorium present.

Defining Processing Times for Accelerator Produced 225Ac and Other Isotopes from Proton Irradiated Thorium.

During the purification of radioisotopes, decay periods or time dependent purification steps may be required to achieve a certain level of radiopurity in the final product. Actinum-225 (Ac-225), Silver-111 (Ag-111), Astatine-211 (At-211), Ruthenium-105 (Ru-105), and Rhodium-105 (Rh-105) are produced in a high energy proton irradiated thorium target. Experimentally measured cross sections, along with MCNP6-generated cross sections, were used to determine the quantities of Ac-225, Ag-111, At-211, Ru-105, Rh-105, and other co-produced radioactive impurities produced in a proton irradiated thorium target at Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer (BLIP). Ac-225 and Ag-111 can be produced with high radiopurity by the proton irradiation of a thorium target at BLIP.

Fishing for Isotopes: Capturing Beryllium-7 from Brookhaven LINAC Isotope Producer's 300 gallons of Cooling Water.

The ability of capturing metals and/or radionuclides from large amounts of water is important for radioisotope waste treatment and environmental cleanup. We have developed an approach that rapidly optimizes the capturing of radioisotopes in large-volume aqueous environments. The approach was scaled up to capture beryllium-7 from 300 gallons of cooling water associated with a linear accelerator. Solid supports with the functional groups sulfonic acid, iminodiacetate, pyridine amine, pyridine amine acid, or quaternary amine were incubated in the cooling water for 1 week. One sulfonic acid solid support was able to capture 2.1 mCi of Be-7. Subsequent studies with the sulfonic acid solid support focused on the uptake over time of Be-7, scale-up of capturing Be-7, and subsequent purification of Be-7. The uptake over time of Be-7 was found to be linear in the first 24 h, with an equation of Y = 4.11X (% uptake/time (h)) (R 2 = 0.998). The uptake of Be-7 reached the maximum at 24 h and was identical to the uptake at 168 h. To purify Be-7, the optimal purification approach was to release the Be-7 from the solid support with 10 M HCl, which could be immediately passed through an AG1 resin to remove radioimpurities. The radiopurity of the purified Be-7 was greater than 99%, and this method was used to purify 65 mCi of the isotope.

Radiometric evaluation of diglycolamide resins for the chromatographic separation of actinium from fission product lanthanides.

Actinium-225 is a potential Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) isotope. It can be generated with high energy (≥ 100MeV) proton irradiation of thorium targets. The main challenge in the chemical recovery of 225Ac lies in the separation from thorium and many fission by-products most importantly radiolanthanides. We recently developed a separation strategy based on a combination of cation exchange and extraction chromatography to isolate and purify 225Ac. In this study, actinium and lanthanide equilibrium distribution coefficients and column elution behavior for both TODGA (N,N,N',N'-tetra-n-octyldiglycolamide) and TEHDGA (N,N,N',N'-tetrakis-2-ethylhexyldiglycolamide) were determined. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed and were in agreement with experimental observations providing the foundation for understanding of the selectivity for Ac and lanthanides on different DGA (diglycolamide) based resins. The results of Gibbs energy (ΔGaq) calculations confirm significantly higher selectivity of DGA based resins for LnIII over AcIII in the presence of nitrate. DFT calculations and experimental results reveal that Ac chemistry cannot be predicted from lanthanide behavior under comparable circumstances.

Production scale purification of Ge-68 and Zn-65 from irradiated gallium metal.

Germanium-68 (Ge-68) is produced by proton irradiation of a gallium metal target, purified by organic extraction and used in a medical isotope generator to produce Gallium-68 PET imaging agents. The purpose of this work was to implement a production scale separation of Ge-68 and Zn-65 that does not use organic solvents and uses a limited number of columns. The current separation approach was modified to use AG1 resin and/or Sephadex(©) G25 with zinc spikes to purify Ge-68 with near quantitative recovery. The purified Ge-68 meets DOE specifications. Methods utilizing zinc spikes resulted in the purist Ge-68 produced at Brookhaven National Lab with no other impurities by ICP-OES. During process optimization approximately 2.5 Ci of Ge-68 was purified utilizing the different processing methods, and the material was sold to the Nuclear Medicine community between 2012-2013.

Synthesis and Preliminary Biological Evaluations of Fluorescent or 149Promethium Labeled Trastuzumab-Polyethylenimine.

BACKGROUND: Radioimmunotherapy utilize a targeting antibody coupled to a therapeutic isotope to target and treat a tumor or disease. In this study we examine the synthesis and cell binding of a polymer scaffold containing a radiotherapeutic isotope and a targeting antibody. METHODS: The multistep synthesis of a fluorescent or 149Promethium-labeled Trastuzumab-polyethyleneimine (PEI), Trastuzumab, or PEI is described. In vitro uptake, internalization and/or the binding affinity to the Her2/neu expressing human breast adenocarcinoma SKBr3 cells was investigated with the labeled compounds. RESULTS: Fluorescent-labeled Trastuzumab-PEI was internalized more into cells at 2 and 18 h than fluorescent-labeled Trastuzumab or PEI. The fluorescent-labeled Trastuzumab was concentrated on the cell surface at 2 and 18 h and the labeled PEI had minimal uptake. DOTA-PEI was prepared and contained an average of 16 chelates per PEI; the compound was radio-labeled with 149Promethium and conjugated to Trastuzumab. The purified 149Pm-DOTA-PEI-Trastuzumab had a radiochemical purity of 96.7% and a specific activity of 0.118 TBq/g. The compound demonstrated a dissociation constant for the Her2/neu receptor of 20.30 ± 6.91 nM. CONCLUSION: The results indicate the DOTA-PEI-Trastuzumab compound has potential as a targeted therapeutic carrier, and future in vivo studies should be performed.

T cell receptor-like recognition of tumor in vivo by synthetic antibody fragment.

A major difficulty in treating cancer is the inability to differentiate between normal and tumor cells. The immune system differentiates tumor from normal cells by T cell receptor (TCR) binding of tumor-associated peptides bound to Major Histocompatibility Complex (pMHC) molecules. The peptides, derived from the tumor-specific proteins, are presented by MHC proteins, which then serve as cancer markers. The TCR is a difficult protein to use as a recombinant protein because of production issues and has poor affinity for pMHC; therefore, it is not a good choice for use as a tumor identifier outside of the immune system. We constructed a synthetic antibody-fragment (Fab) library in the phage-display format and isolated antibody-fragments that bind pMHC with high affinity and specificity. One Fab, fE75, recognizes our model cancer marker, the Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2/neu) peptide, E75, bound to the MHC called Human Leukocyte Antigen-A2 (HLA-A2), with nanomolar affinity. The fE75 bound selectively to E75/HLA-A2 positive cancer cell lines in vitro. The fE75 Fab conjugated with (64)Cu selectively accumulated in E75/HLA-A2 positive tumors and not in E75/HLA-A2 negative tumors in an HLA-A2 transgenic mouse as probed using positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. Considering that hundreds to thousands of different peptides bound to HLA-A2 are present on the surface of each cell, the fact that fE75 arrives at the tumor at all shows extraordinary specificity. These antibody fragments have great potential for diagnosis and targeted drug delivery in cancer.

Physicochemical characterization of a prodrug of a radionuclide decorporation agent for oral delivery.

Intravenously administered calcium and zinc complexes of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) are the agents of choice to treat individuals who have been contaminated with radioactive actinides. However, their use in a mass casualty scenario is hampered by the need for trained personnel to receive treatment. Because DTPA is a highly ionized molecule with permeability-limited bioavailability, the penta-ethyl ester prodrug of DTPA is under evaluation as an orally bioavailable radionuclide decorporation agent. In this work, the physicochemical properties of DTPA penta-ethyl ester were characterized to assess its potential for oral delivery. DTPA penta-ethyl ester was determined to be a low-viscosity liquid with Newtonian flow characteristics. Consistent with the measured pK(a) values, which range from 2.93 to 10.87, this prodrug exhibits pH-dependent solubility and lipophilicity properties that are representative of a weak base and favorable for oral absorption. It is miscible in solvents that are nonpolar to moderately polar and is sufficiently stable to avoid premature hydrolysis during gastrointestinal transit. Therapeutic effects were demonstrated in an initial efficacy study wherein oral treatments of the prodrug were given to rats contaminated with ²4¹Am, providing preliminary indications of successful oral delivery. The properties of the prodrug indicate that it is conducive to oral delivery and may offer therapeutic benefits over the standard DTPA therapy following radionuclide contamination.

Synthesis and σ1 Receptor Binding of Halogenated N,N'-Diphenethylethylenediamines.

Eight halogenated N,N'-diphenethylethylenediamines were synthesized, characterized and evaluated for σ1 receptor binding affinity in vitro. Measurements of lipophilicity also were obtained. The substitution pattern on one of the aromatic rings remained constant as 3,4-dichloro, while the substituents on the other aromatic ring were varied to include fluorine, bromine or iodine in either the 2-, 3- or 4- positions. Two main structure activity relationships were observed. First, halogen substitution on the 3- or 4-positions of the aromatic ring conferred higher binding affinities (Ki values 6.35 - 15.82 nM) than the corresponding substitutions at the 2-position (Ki values 12.08 - 43.15 nM). Second, derivatives containing either a bromo or fluoro substituent at a given position showed higher σ1 receptor binding affinities than derivatives with a corresponding iodo substituent. The data indicate that σ1 receptor affinity for this structural series is sensitive to steric bulk at the 2-position. Log k'w measurements for the halogenated N,N'-diphenethylethylenediamines were determined by high performance liquid chromatography, and varied from 2.54 - 3.71. In particular, the 3-fluoro analog exhibited a log k'w = 2.54 accompanied by a σ1 receptor Ki = 7.8 nM. These novel N,N'-diphenethylethylenediamines warrant further investigation in behavioral assays, and radiolabeled versions may prove suitable for in vivo studies of σ1 receptors.

Preparation and biological evaluation of 111In-, 177Lu- and 90Y-labeled DOTA analogues conjugated to B72.3.

Three 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",N"'-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) analogues were evaluated for relative in vivo stability when radiolabeled with (111)In, (90)Y and (177)Lu and conjugated to the monoclonal antibody B72.3. The DOTA analogues evaluated were "NHS-DOTA" [N-hydroxysuccinimdyl (NHS) group activating one carboxylate], "Arm-DOTA" (also known as MeO-DOTA; with a p-NCS, o-MeO-benzyl moiety on the methylene group of one acetic acid arm) and "Back-DOTA" (with a p-NCS-benzyl moiety on a backbone methylene group of the macrocycle). The B72.3 was conjugated to the DOTA analogues to increase the retention time of the radioloabeled conjugates in vivo in mice. The serum stability of the various radiometalated DOTA conjugates showed them to have good stability out to 168 h (all >95% except (111)In-NHS-DOTA-B72.3, which was 91% stable). Hydroxyapatite stability for the (111)In and (177)Lu DOTA-conjugates was >95% at 168 h, while the (90)Y DOTA-conjugates were somewhat less stable (between 90% and 95% at 168 h). The biodistribution studies of the radiometalated DOTA-conjugates showed that no significant differences were observed for the (111)In and (177)Lu analogues; however, the (90)Y analogues showed lower stabilities, as evidenced by their increased bone uptake relative to the other two [2-20% injected dose per gram (% ID/g) for (90)Y and 2-8% ID/g for (111)In and (177)Lu]. The lower stability of the (90)Y analogues could be due to the higher beta energy of (90)Y and/or to the larger ionic radius of Y(3+). Based on the bone uptake observed, the (177)Lu-NHS-DOTA-B72.3 had slightly lower stability than the (177)Lu-Arm-DOTA-B72.3 and (177)Lu-Back-DOTA-B72.3, but not significantly at all time points. For (90)Y, the analogue showing the lowest stability based on bone uptake was (90)Y-Arm-DOTA-B72.3, perhaps because of the metal's larger ionic radius and potential steric interactions minimizing effective complexation. The (111)In analogues all showed similar biological distributions at the various time points. This study suggests that care must be taken when evaluating (90)Y-labeled antibodies and in using NHS-DOTA-antibody conjugates with (177)Lu. All evaluations should be extended to time points relevant to the half-life of the radiometal and the therapy applications.