Gastrin-releasing peptide receptors (GRPRs) are overexpressed on a variety of human
tumors, such as prostate, breast, and
lung cancer.
Bombesin (BN) is a 14-amino-acid
peptide with high affinity for these GRPRs. We synthesized
DTPA-Q-K-Y-G-N-Q-W-A-V-G-H-L-M, a 13-amino-acid
peptide chelated with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic
acid (
DTPA), and radiolabeled this BN analog with 111InCl(3).
Biologic activity of 111In-[
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN was evaluated in PC-3 prostate
tumor-bearing severely compromised immunodeficient (SCID) mice. The purity of synthesized [
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN was greater than 95%. The radiolabeling efficiency of 111In-[
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN was 96.9% +/- 2.46%. The IC(50) and K(i) of [
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN in the human
bombesin 2 receptor were 1.05 +/- 0.46 and 0.83 +/- 0.36 nM, respectively. The K(d) of 111In-[
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN in GRPR-expressing PC-3
tumor cells was 22.9 +/- 6.81 nM. Both biodistribution and micro-SPECT/CT (single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography) imaging studies with 111In-[
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN demonstrated the highest uptake at 8 hours postinjection. The Pearson correlation analysis showed a positive correlation of
tumor uptake between biodistribution and micro-SPECT/CT semiquantification imaging analysis (r = 0.832). Our results revealed 111In-[
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN has high affinity with BN type 2 receptor. The results demonstrated a good uptake in the GRPR-overexpression of PC-3
tumor-bearing SCID mice. 111In-[
DTPA(1), Lys(3), Tyr(4)]-BN is a potential agent for imaging GRPR-positive
tumors in humans.