A novel amine-dioxime chelator for technetium-99m: synthesis and evaluation of 2-nitroimidazole-containing analogues as markers for hypoxic cells

Toward hypoxia-selective rhenium and technetium tricarbonyl complexes

With the aim of preparing hypoxia-selective imaging and therapeutic agents, technetium(I) and rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes with pyridylhydrazone, dipyridylamine, and pyridylaminocarboxylate ligands containing nitrobenzyl or nitroimidazole functional groups have been prepared. The rhenium tricarbonyl complexes were synthesized with short reaction times using microwave irradiation. Rhenium tricarbonyl complexes with deprotonated p-nitrophenyl pyridylhydrazone ligands are luminescent, and this has been used to track their uptake in HeLa cells using confocal fluorescent microscopy. Selected rhenium tricarbonyl complexes displayed higher uptake in hypoxic cells when compared to normoxic cells. A (99m)Tc tricarbonyl complex with a dipyridylamine ligand bearing a nitroimidazole functional group is stable in human serum and was shown to localize in a human renal cell carcinoma (RCC; SK-RC-52) tumor in a mouse.

In vivo click reaction between Tc-99m-labeled azadibenzocyclooctyne-MAMA and 2-nitroimidazole-azide for tumor hypoxia targeting

The bioactivity of nitroimidazole in Tc-99m-labeled 2-nitroimidazole, a traditional solid tumor hypoxia-imaging agent for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), is reduced by the presence of large ligand and metallic radionuclide, exhibiting lower tumor-to-nontumor ratios. In an effort to solve this general problem, a pretargeting strategy based on click chemistry (strain-promoted cyclooctyne-azide cycloaddition) was applied. The functional click synthons were synthesized as pretargeting components: an azide group linked to 2-nitroimidazole (2NIM-Az) serves for tumor hypoxia-targeting and azadibenzocyclooctyne conjugated with monoamine monoamide dithiol ligand (AM) functions as radiolabeling and binding group to azides in vivo. 2NIM-triazole-MAMA was obtained from in vitro click reaction with a reaction rate constant of 0.98M(-1)s(-1). AM and 2NIM-triazole-MAMA were radiolabeled with Tc-99m. The hypoxia-pretargeting biodistribution was studied in Kunming mice bearing S180 tumor; (99m)Tc-AM and (99m)Tc-triazole-2NIM were used as blank control and conventional control. Compared to the control groups, the pretargeting experiment exhibits the best radio-uptake and retention in tumor, with higher tumor-to-muscle and tumor-to-blood ratios (up to 8.55 and 1.44 at 8h post-(99m)Tc-complex-injection, respectively). To some extent, the pretargeting strategy protects the bioactivity of nitroimidazole and therefore provides an innovative approach for the development of tumor hypoxia-SPECT imaging agents.

⁹⁹mTc/Re complexes bearing bisnitroimidazole or mononitroimidazole as potential bioreductive markers for tumor: synthesis, physicochemical characterization and biological evaluation

Four monoamine-monoamide dithiol (MAMA) ligands containing two or one nitroimidazole moieties were synthesized and labeled with (99m)Tc (labeling yield > 95%). The proposed structures of (99m)Tc-complexes are identified by comparison with analogous Re-MAMA complexes. (99m)Tc-MAMA complexes show better physicochemical characters than (99m)TcO-(PnAO-1-(2-nitroimidazole)). Reduction potentials of nitro groups of the rhenium complexes are within the range for bioreductive compounds. As expected, biodistribution studies demonstrate that the 2-nitroimidazole complex shows better tumor-to-tissue ratios than 4-nitroimidazole analog for mononitroimidazole complexes, but not for MAMA-bisnitroimidazoles due to higher lipophilicity. Both the bisnitroimidazole compounds show rapider excretion, lower background activity in liver and higher tumor-to-tissue ratios than the mononitroimidazoles. Better biodistribution characteristic makes both the MAMA-bisnitroimidazole complexes, especially (99m)Tc-15, be potential tumor hypoxia marker.

The preparation and biological characterization of a new HL91-derivative for hypoxic imaging on stroke mice

AIM

(99m)Tc-HL91 (Prognox, GE-Healthcare) was the first nonnitro-aryl-based radiotracer for evaluating hypoxic fraction in neoplasm, stroke and myocardium infarction regions. However, the high hydrophilicity of (99m)Tc-HL91 might hamper its penetration into cells. In this study, we prepared a new ligand 4,4,11,11-tetramethyl- 5,10-diazatetradecane- 3,12-dionedioxime (HL91-ET) with higher lipophilicity but structurally similar compared with that of HL91. The chemical and biological characterizations of (99m)Tc-HL91-ET as a scintigraphic probe for hypoxia were performed with a stroke-bearing mouse model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

HL91-ET was synthesized and formulated with stannous chloride and buffer to afford kits. After mixing with (99m)Tc-pertechnetate, (99m)Tc-HL91-ET can be prepared in high yield and high radiochemical purity (both >96%). The partition coefficient of (99m)Tc-HL91-ET was determined in n-octanol/PBS system. Cellular uptake assays under normoxic and hypoxic conditions were performed in an oxygen-controlled CO(2) incubator. Brain stroke in the mouse model was induced by the electrocautery of the middle cerebral artery. After intravenous injection of (99m)Tc-HL91-ET into the Balb/c mouse suffering brain stroke, small-animal SPECT images were acquired at designated time points and autoradiography of the brain slides was conducted. Parallel studies of (99m)Tc-HL91 were also conducted at the same conditions for comparison.

RESULTS

The higher partition coefficient of (99m)Tc-HL91-ET (0.294+/-0.007) indicated higher lipophlicity compared with that of (99m)Tc-HL91 (0.089+/-0.005). The (99m)Tc-HL91-ET preparation was stable at ambient temperature for 24h. Cellular uptake assay showed that (99m)Tc-HL91-ET was less selectively retained in hypoxic cells than (99m)Tc-HL91. The target-to-normal brain ratios derived from the autoradiograms of the brains of stroke mice were 1.31+/-0.02 and 17.47+/-0.10 (n=3), respectively, at 2h post injection of (99m)Tc-HL91-ET and (99m)Tc-HL91.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that (99m)Tc-HL91-ET, though with higher lipophilicity than (99m)Tc-HL91, did not suggest better specific accumulation in hypoxic cells or tissues than (99m)Tc-HL91. The uptake mechanism of (99m)Tc-HL91 was at least not solely by passive diffusion. Lipophilicity should not be the major consideration in designing HL91-derivatives for hypoxia imaging.

Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of three radioiodinated nitroimidazole analogues as tumor hypoxia markers

Three novel nitroimidazole-based thioflavin-T derivatives, N-[4-(benzothiazol-2-yl)phenyl]-3-(4-nitroimidazole-1-yl)propanamide, N-[4-(benzothiazol-2-yl) phenyl]-3-(4-nitroimidazole-1-yl)-N-methylpropanamide and N-[4-(benzothiazol-2-yl)phenyl]-3-(2-nitroimidazole-1-yl) propanamide were synthesized and radiolabeled with iodine-131. Three (131)I-labeled compounds continuously accumulated in hypoxic murine sarcoma S180 cells in vitro but not in aerobic cells. Biodistribution results in mice bearing S180 tumor indicated that the tracers could localize in the tumor and eliminate from it slowly. In contrast, the uptake in other organs (stomach excluded) was little and the clearance was quick. The tumor-to-tissue ratios of three compounds all increased with time.

Imaging hypoxia in tumors

For many years, it has been known that hypoxia affects the response to radiotherapy in human cancers. Hypoxic regions can develop as a tumor grows beyond the ability of its blood supply to deliver oxygen to the full extent of the tumor, exacerbated by vascular spasm or compression caused by increased interstitial fluid pressure. However, hypoxia is heterogeneous, and tumors that appear identical by clinical and radiographic criteria can vary greatly in their extent of hypoxia. Several invasive procedures to measure hypoxia in tumors have been developed and are predictive of response to therapy, but none of these is in routine clinical use because of technical complexity, inconvenience, and inability to obtain repeated measures. Noninvasive imaging with a hypoxia-directed radiopharmaceutical could be of great clinical utility. Most such radiopharmaceuticals under development use 2-nitroimidazole as the targeting moiety. 2-Nitroimidazole, which is selectively reduced and bound in hypoxic tissues, has been labeled with F-18, Cu-64/67, I-123, and Tc-99m. Of these, F-18-fluoromisonidazole and I-123-iodoazomycin arabinoside (IAZA) have been most widely studied clinically. Non-nitro-containing bioreductive complexes, such as the Cu-60/62/64 thiosemicarbazone ATSM and Tc-99m butylene amineoxime (BnAO or HL91), have also been evaluated. In particular, 1-123-IAZA and Cu-60-ATSM have shown correlation with response to radiotherapy in preliminary clinical studies. However, more preclinical studies comparing imaging with validated invasive methods and clinical studies with outcome measures are required. Nuclear medicine is poised to play an important role in optimizing the therapy of patients with hypoxic tumors.