Dual-radiolabelling of an injectable hyaluronan-tyramine-bisphosphonate hybrid gel for in vitro and in vivo tracking

Radiolabeled NGR-Based Heterodimers for Angiogenesis Imaging: A Review of Preclinical Studies

Since angiogenesis/neoangiogenesis has a major role in tumor development, progression and metastatic spread, the establishment of angiogenesis-targeting imaging and therapeutic vectors is of utmost significance. Aminopeptidase N (APN/CD13) is a pivotal biomarker of angiogenic processes abundantly expressed on the cell surface of active vascular endothelial and various neoplastic cells, constituting a valuable target for cancer diagnostics and therapy. Since the asparagine-glycine-arginine (NGR) sequence has been shown to colocalize with APN/CD13, the research interest in NGR-peptide-mediated vascular targeting is steadily growing. Earlier preclinical experiments have already demonstrated the imaging and therapeutic feasibility of NGR-based probes labeled with different positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) radionuclides, including Gallium-68 (68Ga), Copper-64 (64Cu), Technetium-99m (99mTc), Lutetium-177 (177Lu), Rhenium-188 (188Re) or Bismuth-213 (213Bi). To improve the tumor binding affinity and the retention time of single-receptor targeting peptides, NGR motifs containing heterodimers have been introduced to identify multi-receptor overexpressing malignancies. Preclinical studies with various tumor-bearing experimental animals provide useful tools for the investigation of the in vivo imaging behavior of NGR-based heterobivalent ligands. Herein, we review the reported preclinical achievements on NGR heterodimers that could be highly relevant for the development of further target-specific multivalent compounds in diagnostic and therapeutic settings.

Multimodality labeling of NGR-functionalized hyaluronan for tumor targeting and radiotherapy

Hyaluronan (HA) is a negatively charged linear polysaccharide that can interact with cluster determinant 44 (CD44) overexpressed cancers. However, HA can also bind to excess substrates in the human body leading to the lower specificity of tumor targeting. Conjugation of other targeting group to HA could enhance the uptake by cancer cell comparing to that of native HA. In this study, we develop the multi-functionalized HA (¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTA/Alexa647-HA100-N) for malignant tumor targeting. An asparagine-glycine-arginine (NGR) based peptide was selected for HA functionalization. The peptide is known to target CD13 receptor that is overexpressed in malignant tumors with abundant blood vessels, such as lung cancer. Furthermore, the fluorescent probe Alexa Fluor 647 for ex vivo/in vivo tracking and the radionuclide ¹⁷⁷Lu for radioactive therapy were both labeled on the material. The functionalized HA could be bound by lung cancer cells and breast cancer cells. In vivo fluorescent imaging showed that the material could accumulate in the tumor site for more than 96 h. The ¹⁷⁷Lu labeling of functionalized HA was stable for more 48 h at physiological conditions. The accumulation of ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTA/Alexa647-HA100-N in the tumor of lung cancer (NCI-H292) bearing mice was 1.91±0.97%ID/g, and it was about 17 times higher than the value in blood. Conclusion: The multimodality labeled functional HA was successfully prepared and could be fluorescent trackable ex vivo and in vivo. It showed high potential to be used for malignant cancer radiotherapy for its specific targeting property to tumors and radiotoxicity from the labeled ¹⁷⁷Lu radionuclide.