Development and Characterization of Tc-scFvD2B as a Potential Radiopharmaceutical for SPECT Imaging of Prostate Cancer.

Previously, we demonstrated that the Lu-labeled single-chain variable fragment of an anti-prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) IgG D2B antibody (scFvD2B) showed higher prostate cancer (PCa) cell uptake and tumor radiation doses compared to Lu-labeled Glu-ureide-based PSMA inhibitory peptides. To obtain a Tc-/Lu-scFvD2B theranostic pair, this research aimed to synthesize and biochemically characterize a novel Tc-scFvD2B radiotracer. The scFvD2B-Tag and scFvD2B antibody fragments were produced and purified. Then, two HYNIC derivatives, HYNIC-Gly-Gly-Cys-NH (HYNIC-GGC) and succinimidyl-HYNIC (S-HYNIC), were used to conjugate the scFvD2B-Tag and scFvD2B isoforms, respectively. Subsequently, chemical characterization, immunoreactivity tests (affinity and specificity), radiochemical purity tests, stability tests in human serum, cellular uptake and internalization in LNCaP(+), PC3-PIP(++) or PC3(-) PCa cells of the resulting unlabeled HYNIC-scFvD2B conjugates (HscFv) and Tc-HscFv agents were performed. The results showed that incorporating HYNIC as a chelator did not affect the affinity, specificity or stability of scFvD2B. After purification, the radiochemical purity of Tc-HscFv radiotracers was greater than 95%. A two-sample -test of Tc-HscFv1 and Tc-HscFv1 uptake in PC3-PIP vs. PC3 showed a -value < 0.001, indicating that the PSMA receptor interaction of Tc-HscFv agents was statistically significantly higher in PSMA-positive cells than in the negative controls. In conclusion, the results of this research warrant further preclinical studies to determine whether the in vivo pharmacokinetics and tumor uptake of Tc-HscFv still offer sufficient advantages over HYNIC-conjugated peptides to be considered for SPECT/PSMA imaging.