Reagents.
p-SCN-deferoxamine (p-SCN-DFO) was obtained from Macrocyclics, Inc. (USA). Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was obtained from Acros Organics. Na2CO3 and 2-[4‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)piperazin‐1‐yl] ethane sulfonic acid (HEPES) solution was obtained from Sigma‐Aldrich. PD-10 columns were obtained from Cytiva (USA). 89Zr-oxalate was purchased from Dongcheng AMS Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Nanjing, China).
Cell culture and animal models.
The human glioblastoma cell lines U87 were kindly provided by Suzhou Bright Scistar Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and cultured in high glucose Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (Gibco, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Gibco, USA) and 100 U/mL penicillin/streptomycin (Beyotime, China) at 37°C in a 5% CO2 humidified cell incubator (Thermo, Germany).
U87 cells were harvested in their exponential growth phase and resuspended in 100 µL of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at a concentration of 2 × 107 cells/mL. 100 µL U87 cell suspension (2 × 106 cells/tumor) was subcutaneously injected into the left and right armpits (2 tumors/mouse) of 4- to 6-week-old female BALB/c nu/nu mice purchased from Shanghai Lingchang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., respectively. Tumors with a size of 100–150 mm3 were used for imaging and biodistribution studies. All animals were maintained and subjected to experimental protocols in accordance with Soochow University Institutional Animal Care guidelines.
Conjugation and radiolabeling with 89 Zr.
The B7-H3-targeted antibody (hu4G4) was conjugated to the DFO chelator according to previously reported methods in the literature with some modifications [15]. Briefly, hu4G4 in 1 mL of Na2CO3/NaHCO3 buffer was added to a 9-fold molar excess of the chelator p-SCN-DFO (dissolved in 20–30 µL DMSO) and stirred slowly at 37°C for 90 min. The conjugate DFO-hu4G4 was then purified with a PD-10 column.
Next, DFO-hu4G4 was radiolabeled with 89Zr according to a previously established method. First, 25–40 µL of 89Zr-oxalate stock solution (~ 0.38–1.9 MBq) was diluted 9-fold with 0.2 M HEPES, and the pH of the solution was adjusted to 7.0 with 0.1 M Na2CO3. Second, DFO-hu4G4 was added to the above solution and incubated at 37°C for 1.5 h to obtain 89Zr-DFO-hu4G4, which was purified with PD-10 columns with 0.15 M acetate buffer, pH 7.2 as the eluent.
The radiochemical purity was determined by radio-HPLC on a Waters E2695 instrument with an online radioactivity detector (3600, Bioscan) using an SEC chromatogram (G3000SWXL, TOSOH). The radiochemical purity was also determined by radio-thin layer chromatography (radio-TLC, Bioscan Inc.) with 0.5 M citrate buffer (pH 5.0 as the mobile phase and glass fiber paper as the carrier).
The in vitro stability of 89Zr-DFO-hu4G4 (approximately 5 MBq) was studied at different time points (0, 2, 16, 32, 60, 96, 120, 144, 168, 180 h) after radiolabeling in either acetate buffer or human plasma at 37°C by radio-TLC.
Dose escalation by 89 Zr-immuno-PET imaging evaluation.
When the tumor volume reached 100–150 mm3, twelve mice were randomly assigned to 3 groups (n = 4). The design of the 89Zr-DFO-hu4G4 dose-escalation study is shown in Table 1. The mice were anesthetized with a 1.5%-2.5% isoflurane/oxygen mixture post IV injection of 89Zr-DFO-hu4G4 by intravenous bolus via the tail vein and then imaged with 10 min or 20 min long static micro-PET (Inveon, Siemens) scans performed at 2, 16, 32, 60, 90, 120, 144, 168 and 180 h. PET data were reconstructed by the ordered subset expectation maximization 3D (OSEM3D) algorithm. The percent injected dose per gram of tissue (%ID/g) in the regions of interest (ROIs) (such as the left/right tumors, heart, liver, spleen, arthrosis and muscle) was drawn and analyzed by ASIPro software, of which %ID/g was calculated by Eq. (1):
Table 1
Therapeutic study groups. Mice bearing U87 glioblastoma tumors received a single injection of the given agent (n = 4/dose)
Study group
|
Radio-activity (MBq)
|
Unlabeled hu4G4 per mouse (µg)
|
Dose(mg/kg)
|
Low-dose
|
0.38 ± 0.02
|
0
|
0.33
|
Medium-dose
|
2.04 ± 0.05
|
0
|
1.75
|
High-dose
|
1.90 ± 0.03
|
315
|
17.5
|
Ex vivo Biodistribution of 89 Zr-DFO-hu4G4.
To analyze the ex vivo biodistribution of 89Zr-DFO-hu4G4, blood samples (~ 10–20 µL for each sample) were collected from tail vein at 180 h post injection of the tracer and weighed immediately. Mice of each group (n = 4) were euthanized after the last PET imaging at 180 h, then the major tissues and organs (such as left/right tumor, brain, heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, bone marrow, arthrosis, muscle, stomach, intestines and ovaries) were collected and weighed immediately. 89Zr radioactivities of these samples were measured with a γ counter (2480 WIZARD2, Perkin Elmer).
Pharmacokinetics of 89 Zr-DFO-hu4G4.
To observe the in vivo PK behavior of hu4G4, blood samples (~ 10–20 µL) were also collected from the tail vein of each mouse at 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 16 h, 32 h, 60 h, 90 h, 120 h, 144 h and 168 h time points, weighed immediately and measured with the γ counter. PK parameters (such as half-life (T1/2) and AUC (0−180 h)) were calculated with the %ID/g data of blood samples from tail vein over a period of 5 min to 180 h post injection of the tracer by DAS software (version: 1.1).
Patlak model to assess target engagement.
To assess target engagement, the Patlak model was used to analyze the tumor uptake by 89Zr-immunoPET according to previous reports in the literature [15]. Through this model, nonspecific binding (A) and specific binding (B) can be calculated.
Tumor uptake can be classified into two parts: One is target-specific binding, which reflects irreversible internalization/residualization of 89Zr-antibody, the other is nonspecific binding in the blood circulation and interstitial space. Through this model, the following Eq. (2) can represent the tumor uptake (%ID/g):
Equation 2 can then be transformed into
where A’ represents nonspecific binding, B’ represents specific binding and AUC(t) represents the area under the blood uptake (%ID/g)-time curve (0-t).
Statistical analysis.
GraphPad Prism (version 9) was used for statistical analyses. Quantitative results are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (SD) with all error bars denoting the SD. Statistical analyses were carried out with Student’s t test, and p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.