Gallium compounds forthe design of (nano)radiophamarceuticals

Abstract

The work presented in this thesis focus on the design of targeted nanosized and molecular tools, for the design of gallium radiopharmaceuticals with potential application in cancer theranostics. The first part describes gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized with thiolated derivatives of acyclic and macrocyclic chelators, and functionalized with bioactive peptides for specific targeting of Gastrin Releasing Peptide (GRP) and Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) receptors. For GRPr targeting, the AuNPs were decorated with a bombesin (BBN) analog and stabilized with derivatives of diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) or 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) chelators for 67Ga complexation. From the evaluated radiolabeled nanoconstructs, the ones containing a dithioctic derivative of BBN and a thiolated DOTA chelator is the most promising one for the design of 67Ga (nano)radiopharmaceuticals, due to its high in vitro/in vivo stability, high cellular internalization in GRPr-positive PC3 cells, and significant tumor uptake in prostate cancer tumor xenografts. For EGFr targeting, the AuNPs were decorated with GE-11 peptide that was incorporated in a thiolated DOTA derivative. The resulting AuNPs were labeled with 67Ga using pre- and post-labeling approaches. Those obtained based on the pre-labeling approach showed an enhanced in vitro stability towards release of 67Ga while maintaining a high cellular internalization in A431 cells overexpressing EGFr. The second part describes new N4O2-donor acyclic chelators of the Schiff base type and the respective reduced amines, which contain pyridyl or pyrazolyl coordinating units at the central nitrogen atom of diethylenetriamine and phenol groups introduced at the terminal amines. The Schiff bases undergo decomposition reactions, while the corresponding amine derivatives give well defined monocationic Ga(III) complexes. However, only a pyridyl-containing amine derivative was able to effectively coordinate 67Ga. Biodistribution studies in mice showed that the corresponding radiocomplex displays a high in vivo stability and favourable pharmacokinetics, being a good candidate for further evaluation in radiopharmaceutical research.