Novel (64)Cu-radiolabeled bile acid conjugates for targeted PET imaging

A promising bifunctional chelate (N-NE3TA) was conjugated to bile acids, cholic acid (CA), deoxycholic acid (DCA), and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) as tumor targeting vectors. Bile acid conjugates of N-NE3TA (CA-N-NE3TA, DCA-N-NE3TA, and CDCA-N-NE3TA) were comparatively evaluated for complexation with (64)Cu, an imaging probe for positron emission tomography (PET). N-NE3TA-bile acid conjugates were evaluated for radiolabeling kinetics with (64)Cu, and the corresponding (64)Cu-radiolabeled conjugates were screened for complex stability in human serum and EDTA solution. The NE3TA-bile acid conjugates instantly bound to (64)Cu with excellent radiolabeling efficiency at room temperature. All NE3TA-bile acid conjugates radiolabeled with (64)Cu remained inert in human serum for 2days without releasing a considerable amount of the radioactivity. The (64)Cu-radiolabeled complexes were further challenged by EDTA in a 100-fold molar excess. Bile acid-N-NE3TA conjugates radiolabeled with (64)Cu were quite stable with a minimal transfer of (64)Cu to EDTA at 4h time point. The in vitro data indicate that the bile acid-N-NE3TA conjugates deserve further biological evaluation for (64)Cu-based targeted PET imaging applications.