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Preclinical development of a novel [68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-labeled agent for PSMA-targeted imaging and therapy

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Abstract

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiolabeled agents have been developed to diagnose and treat prostate cancer. In this study, we developed a novel 68Ga-/177Lu-labeled PSMA-targeted agent for potential for theranostics of prostate cancer. Methods:[68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-BP were efficiently prepared manually. For in vitro cell experiments 22Rv1 (PSMA+) and PC-3 (PSMA-) cell lines were used. Biodistribution studies, small-animal SPECT imaging, Micro-PET imaging, and therapy studies of [68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-BP were conducted in mice bearing 22Rv1 and PC-3 xenografted tumors. Results:[68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-BP were prepared within 30 min. The binding affinity Ki value of PSMA-BP to PSMA was 8.34 ± 2.02 nM. Micro-PET and small-animal SPECT imaging showed accumulation of [68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-BP mainly in 22Rv1 tumors with a favorable clearance pattern from non-target oragans. Low radioactivity accumulation was observed in PC-3 tumors and PSMA-expressing tissues. The SUVmax for 22Rv1 tumor, PC-3 tumor were 0.77 ± 0.16, 0.09 ± 0.07. The uptake of 68Ga-PSMA-BP in 22Rv1 tumors could be substantially blocked by 2-PMPA (− 81.82%). The mice treated with either low or high dose of 177Lu-PSMA-BP showed delayed tumor growth. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated the promising theranostic potential of [68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-PSMA-BP for prostate cancer, while the efficacy warranted further investigation to evaluate the potential for clinical application.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Xing Yang and Dr. Xiaojiang Duan (Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking University First Hospital) for providing the 22Rv1 tumor-bearing mice and technical assistance.

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JZ and YW conceived and designed the experiments. YW and XZ performed the experiments. YW and HZ analyzed the data. JZ contributed reagents, materials, and analysis tools. YW wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Jinming Zhang.

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Wu, Y., Zhang, X., Zhou, H. et al. Preclinical development of a novel [68Ga]Ga-/[177Lu]Lu-labeled agent for PSMA-targeted imaging and therapy. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 2705–2717 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08301-5

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