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Xian J, Huang H, Huang G, Zhou R, Yang M, Qiu Y, Bi L, Su Z, Xiao F, Shan H, Jin H. A Positron Emission Tomography Tracer Targeting the S2 Subunit of SARS-CoV-2 in Extrapulmonary Infections. Mol Pharm 2022; 19:4264-4274. [PMID: 36067000 PMCID: PMC9469952 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Tracking the pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in live subjects may help estimate the spatiotemporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo. This study developed a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer of the S2 subunit of spike (S) protein for imaging SARS-CoV-2. A pan-coronavirus inhibitor, EK1 peptide, was synthesized and radiolabeled with copper-64 after being conjugated with 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triyl-triacetic acid (NOTA). The in vitro stability tests indicated that [64Cu]Cu-NOTA-EK1 was stable up to 24 h both in saline and in human serum. The binding assay showed that [64Cu]Cu-NOTA-EK1 has a nanomolar affinity (Ki = 3.94 ± 0.51 nM) with the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2. The cell uptake evaluation used HEK293T/S+ and HEK293T/S- cell lines that showed that the tracer has a high affinity with the S-protein on the cellular level. For the in vivo study, we tested [64Cu]Cu-NOTA-EK1 in HEK293T/S+ cell xenograft-bearing mice (n = 3) and pseudovirus of SARS-CoV-2-infected HEK293T/ACE2 cell bearing mice (n = 3). The best radioactive xenograft-to-muscle ratio (X/Nxenograft 8.04 ± 0.99, X/Npseudovirus 6.47 ± 0.71) was most evident 4 h postinjection. Finally, PET imaging in the surrogate mouse model of beta-coronavirus, mouse hepatic virus-A59 infection in C57BL/6 J mice showed significantly enhanced accumulation in the liver than in the uninfected mice (1.626 ± 0.136 vs 0.871 ± 0.086 %ID/g, n = 3, P < 0.05) at 4 h postinjection. In conclusion, our experimental results demonstrate that [64Cu]Cu-NOTA-EK1 is a potential molecular imaging probe for tracking SARS-CoV-2 in extrapulmonary infections in living subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianzhong Xian
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
- Department of Ultrasound Medicine, The Fifth
Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong
Province519000, China
| | - Hongbin Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Guolong Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Renwei Zhou
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Min Yang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Yifan Qiu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Lei Bi
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Zhongzhen Su
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
- Department of Ultrasound Medicine, The Fifth
Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong
Province519000, China
| | - Fei Xiao
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
| | - Hong Shan
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
- Department of Interventional Medicine, The Fifth
Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong
Province519000, China
| | - Hongjun Jin
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical
Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University,
Zhuhai, Guangdong Province519000, China
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