Evaluation of Bifunctional, PSMA-Targeted Triazamacrocycle-Picolinates Compatible with the <sup>18</sup> F/ <sup>44</sup> Sc/ <sup>177</sup> Lu Isotope Triad
The development of matched diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals─theranostic pairs─has emerged as a promising strategy to advance personalized nuclear medicine. However, many current systems rely on chemically distinct elements such as the <sup>68</sup>Ga<sup>3+</sup>/<sup>177</sup>Lu<sup>3+</sup> pair, leading to inconsistencies in the pharmacokinetics. Here, we evaluate bifunctional chelator platforms derived of triazamacrocycle picolinates, capable of stably incorporating three clinically relevant isotopes <sup>18</sup>F<sup>-</sup>, <sup>44</sup>Sc<sup>3+</sup>, and <sup>177</sup>Lu<sup>3+</sup>. <b>mpatcn</b> supported the formation of [<sup>18</sup>F][ScF], [<sup>44</sup>Sc][Sc], and [<sup>177</sup>Lu][Lu] complexes when conjugated to a PSMA-targeting peptide (<b>picaga-Met-hex-KuE</b>). <b>picaga-Met-hex-KuE</b> displayed quantitative radiochemical yields and >95% formulation stability after 2 h. Biodistribution and metabolite analysis confirmed PSMA-targeting, minimal off-target uptake, and renal clearance for all <b>picaga-Met-hex-KuE</b> systems. Additionally, we demonstrate that a cartridge-based purification method formulates [<sup>18</sup>F][ScF(<b>picaga-Met-hex-KuE</b>)] in >95% radiochemical purity with nondecay corrected yields of 32% in under 110 min. These results establish <b>picaga-Met-hex-KuE</b> as a lead scaffold for the <sup>18</sup>F/<sup>44</sup>Sc/<sup>177</sup>Lu triad, enabling single-kit radiopharmaceutical preparation for theranostic applications.
Authors
- Eszter Boros (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4186-6586)
- Eduardo Aluicio‐Sarduy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7889-9162)
- Jason C. Mixdorf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3045-5607)
- Edith K. Amason (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0948-2312)
- Dariusz Śmiłowicz
- Jonathan W. Engle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3399-7228)
- Owen M. Glaser
- Todd E. Barnhart
- Mallory J. Gork
- Megan V. Salek
- Hannah Goerlach
Institutions
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
- Published
- 2025-12-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c02286
- Primary Topic
- Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00