The pharmacological properties of 3-arm or 4-arm DOTA constructs for conjugation to α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogues for melanoma imaging

Background Although a 3-arm DOTA construct, which has three carboxylic acids, h has been applied for conjugation to many peptides, we investigated if a 4-arm DOTA construct conjugated to peptides improves chemical properties for melanoma imaging of the melanocortin 1 receptor compared to 3-arm DOTA-conjugated peptides. Methods Specific activities, radiolabeling efficiencies, and partition coefficients were evaluated using 111 In-labeled 3-arm and 4-arm DOTA-α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH). For assessment of MC1-R affinity and accumulation in tumor cells in vitro, B16-F1 melanoma and/or 4T1 breast cancer cells were incubated with 111 In-labeled 3-arm and 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH with and without α-MSH as a substrate. The stability was evaluated using mouse liver homogenates and plasma. Biological distribution and whole-body single photon emission computed tomography imaging of 111 In-labeled 3-arm and 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH were obtained using B16-F1 melanoma-bearing mice. Results Specific activities and radiolabeling efficiencies of both radiotracers were about 1.2 MBq/nM and 90–95%, respectively. The partition coefficients were −0.28 ± 0.03 for 111 In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH and −0.13 ± 0.04 for 111 In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH. Although accumulation was significantly inhibited by α-MSH in B16-F1 cells, the inhibition rate of 111 In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH was lower than that of 111 In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH. 111 In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH was taken up early into B16-F1 cells and showed higher accumulation than 111 In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH after 10 min of incubation. Although these stabilities were relatively high, the stability of 111 In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH was higher than that of 111 In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH. Regarding biological distribution, 111 In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH showed significantly lower average renal accumulation (1.38-fold) and significantly higher average melanoma accumulation (1.32-fold) than 111 In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH at all acquisition times. 111 In-labeled 4-arm DOTA-α-MSH showed significantly higher melanoma-to-kidney, melanoma-to-blood, and melanoma-to-muscle ratios than 111 In-labeled 3-arm DOTA-α-MSH. Conclusions The 4-arm DOTA construct has better chemical properties for peptide radiotracers than the 3-arm DOTA construct.