The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approved all research procedures. The animals’ housing facility was accredited by the AAALAC International and was in compliance with the United States Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Procedures were performed by a board-certified interventional radiologist.
Five, nine-week-old Oncopigs (transgenic pigs with Cre-inducible TP53R167H and KRASG12D mutations) with a mean body weight of 20–25 kg were obtained from Sus clinicals Inc (Chicago, IL). The animals were allowed to acclimate to our animal facility for 5 days. Prior to any procedures the animals were fasted for 12 hours. Each pig was sedated with an intramuscular injection of solution containing ketamine hydrochloride, acepromazine, and atropine sulfate. Anesthesia was induced with isoflurane administered via mask. Once the pig was anesthetized, an endotracheal tube was inserted, and anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane, nitrous oxide, and oxygen.
Tumor inoculation
Using real-time ultrasound (US) guidance, an 18-gauge coaxial core biopsy of the right and left kidneys were obtained (Bard Mission, BD, Franklin Lakes, NJ). The tissue sample was allowed to incubate at room temperature for 20 mins with an adenoviral vector (109 pfu Ad5CMVCre, University of Iowa Viral Vector Core) in phosphate-buffered saline that contained 15 mM calcium chloride. Calcium chloride added to adenovirus in phosphate-buffered saline results in co-precipitation of adenovirus and calcium phosphate, which improves viral transduction. The virus carries the Cre recombinase gene and activates TP53R167H and KRASG12D expression. A slurry was fashioned from the 1 ml mixture and Gelatin sponge (Gelfoam, Pfizer) using a 3-way stopcock, and the mixture, containing virus, core biopsy, and gelatin was injected percutaneously back into the upper and lower poles of the kidney, through the coaxial needle which was kept in place after the initial tissue biopsy. Two sites were inoculated in each kidney, upper and lower poles were selected to be as far apart as possible, easy and safe to access, and deep enough to avoid leakage of injected material into the peritoneum.
Angiography with pseudovascular isolation
Employing real-time US image guidance, a 21-gauge needle was advanced into the femoral artery, using Seldinger technique this was exchanged for a 5 French (Fr) vascular sheath. Selective angiograms of the left and right renal artery were performed, using a 5 Fr glide cobra catheter and a coaxially inserted 2.4 Fr Prograt (Terumo Medical, Somerset NJ) microcatheter selected segmental artery images were obtained. 40 µm calibrated Embozene particles (Varian Medical Systems, Palto Alto, CA) were mixed with Omnipaque™ (iohexol) (GE, Healthcare, Chicago, Il). The embolic mixture was injected slowly and intermittently under fluoroscopic monitoring, the injection was continued until near complete filling of the capillary bed was achieved.
Small Molecule Theronostics Surrogate Radiotracer Infusion
Control animals underwent i.v. administering of the SM radiotracer suspended in 2 mL of normal saline (n = 2). After embolization, experimental animals (n = 3) received i.a. infusion, the radiotracer was mixed with 2 mL Omnipaque contrast and slowly injected through the microcatheter into the renal artery supplying the renal tumor under real-time fluoroscopic guidance to ensure continued forward flow into the tumor without non-target reflux. Each injection occurred intermittently for 60 seconds. Approximately 266 Mbq (7.2 mCi) of ¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was given to each animal.
Ex vivo Biodistribution
Before infusion of the radiotracer, real-time US was used to place an 18-gauge coaxial needle into the renal tumor; additional needles were placed with image guidance into the normal contralateral kidney, liver, spleen, and muscle tissue in the right thigh. A 5 Fr Yueh needle was inserted with image guidance into the bladder and urine was aspirated from the bladder until it was empty. After infusion of the radiotracer, coaxial biopsy tissue samples were taken at various time points: 1, 5, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 mins for blood; 5, 15, 30, 60, and 120 mins for urine; and 1, 10, 30, 60, and 120 mins for tissue biopsies. The tissues were subsequently rinsed in normal saline and placed into a weighed gamma counter tube. The tissue was weighed and counted in a gamma-counter for activity using a calibrated Perkin Elmer (Waltham, MA) Automatic Wizard2 Gamma Counter by using an energy window of 300–700 keV for 18F. The mass of radiotracer injected into each animal was measured and used to determine the total number of counts (counts per minute, [c.p.m.]) by comparison to a standard syringe containing and independently measured activity and mass. Count data were background and decay-corrected to the time of injection and the percent injected dose per gram (%ID/g) for each tissue sample calculated by normalization to the total activity injected.
Statistical Analysis
Data were analyzed by the unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test. Differences at the 95% confidence level (p = 0.05) were considered to be statistically significant.