⁶⁴Cu-labeling of dendritic polyglycerol derivatives for biodistribution studies

Dendritic polyglycerols (dPG) and polyglycerol sulfates (dPGS) are promising compounds for biomedical applications due to their easy synthesis and high biocompatibility. Dendritic polyglycerol sulfate shows strong anti-inflammatory
properties [1, 2] which makes it a promising agent for diagnostic and therapeutic applications [3].

Information about the biodistribution and the metabolism of dendritic polyglycerol derivatives in living systems are quite scarce. In order to obtain quantitative information about the biodistribution of dPGS in vivo, methods like positron emission tomography (PET) will be applied. Among the metal-based positron emitting radionuclides, ⁶⁴Cu is one of the most intensively evaluated isotopes. Incorporation of ⁶⁴Cu into dPG/dPGS derivatives requires the use of chelate ligands capable of tightly binding the radionuclide.

Herein, we report the conjugation of bifunctional chelating agents (BFCA), based on bis(2-pyridylmethyl)triazacyclononane (DMPTACN) [4], on the dPG/dPGS scaffold. The structure of DMPTACN allows for the introduction of linker groups, such as carboxylic acids, maleimides or isothiocyanates, thereby facilitating coupling to the dendritic polyglycerol derivatives that contain amino and mercapto surface groups. ⁶⁴Cu-labeling experiments and studies of the stability of the resulting radiocopper complexes in the presence of human serum or the competing ligand EDTA will be discussed.

References:

[1] H. Türk et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 2004, 15, 162.
[2] J. Dernedde et al., PNAS 2010, 117, 19679.
[3] K. Licha et al., Bioconjugate Chem. 2011, 22, 2453.
[4] G. Gasser et al., Bioconjugate Chem.2008, 19, 719.