Preclinical evaluation of 68Ga-labeled peptide CK2 for PET imaging of NRP-1 expression in vivo

Purpose Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) is a multifunctional protein involved in a variety of biological processes such as angiogenesis, tumorigenesis and immunomodulation. It was usually overexpressed in many cancer cell lines and correlated with poor prognosis of breast cancer. Positron emission tomography (PET) is an advanced imaging technique for detecting the function and metabolism of tumor-associated molecules in real time, dynamically, quantitatively and noninvasively. To improve the level of early diagnosis and evaluate the prognosis of breast cancer, an NRP-1 targeting peptide-based tracer [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 was designed to sensitively and specifically detect the NRP-1 expression in vivo via PET imaging. Methods In silico modeling and microscale thermophoresis (MST) assay were carried out to design the NRP-1 targeting peptide NOTA-PEG4-CK2, and it was further radiolabeled with Ga-68 to prepare the tracer [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2. The radiochemical yield (RCY), radiochemical purity (RCP), molar activity (Am), lipid-water partition coefficient (Log P) and stability of [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 were assessed. The targeting specificity of the tracer for NRP-1 was investigated by in vitro cellular uptake assay and in vivo PET imaging as well as blocking studies. The sensitivity of the tracer in monitoring the dynamic changes of NRP-1 expression induced by chemical drug was also investigated in vitro and in vivo. Ex vivo biodistribution, autoradiography, western blot, and immunofluorescence staining were also performed to study the specificity of [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 for NRP-1. Results [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 was designed and synthesized with high RCY (> 98%), high stability (RCP > 95%) and high affinity to NRP-1 (KD = 25.39 +/- 1.65 nM). In vitro cellular uptake assay showed that the tracer [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 can specifically bind to NRP-1 positive cancer cells MDA-MB-231 (1.04 +/- 0.04% at 2 h) rather than NRP-1 negative cancer cells NCI-H1299 (0.43 +/- 0.05%). In vivo PET imaging showed the maximum tumor uptake of [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 in MDA-MB-231 xenografts (4.16 +/- 0.67%ID/mL) was significantly higher than that in NCI-H1299 xenografts (1.03 +/- 0.19%ID/mL) at 10 min post injection, and the former exhibited higher tumor-to-muscle uptake ratio (5.22 +/- 0.18) than the latter (1.07 +/- 0.27) at 60 min post injection. MDA-MB-231 xenografts pretreated with nonradioactive precursor NOTA-PEG4-CK2 showed little tumor uptake of [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 (1.67 +/- 0.38%ID/mL at 10 min post injection). Both cellular uptake assay and PET imaging revealed that NRP-1 expression in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 could be effectively suppressed by SB-203580 treatment and can be sensitively detected by [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2. Ex vivo analysis also proved the high specificity and sensitivity of [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 for NRP-1 expression in MDA-MB-231 xenografts. Conclusion A promising NRP-1 targeting PET tracer [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 was successfully prepared. It showed remarkable specificity and sensitivity in monitoring the dynamic changes of NRP-1 expression. Hence, it could provide valuable information for early diagnosis of NRP-1 relevant cancers and evaluating the prognosis of cancer patients. Graphical AbstractA novel promising NRP-1 targeting PET tracer [Ga-68]Ga-NOTA-PEG4-CK2 was developed based on a series of in vitro and in vivo investigations. The tracer showed remarkable specificity and sensitivity in detecting the expression of NRP-1. It could be applied for noninvasively and dynamically monitoring the NRP-1 expression in tumors and predicting the prognosis of breast cancer.