Evaluation of novel ¹¹¹In-labeled gonadotropin-releasing hormone peptides for human prostate cancer imaging

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tumor targeting and imaging properties of novel ¹¹¹In-labeled gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) peptides for human prostate cancer. Three new 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA)-linker-D-Phe-(D-Lys⁶-GnRH) peptides with different hydrocarbon linkers were designed to evaluate their effects on GnRH receptor binding affinities. The Aoc (aminooctanoic acid) linker was better than βAla (3-aminopropanoic acid) and Aun (aminoundecanoic acid) linkers in retaining strong receptor binding affinity. DOTA-Aoc-D-Phe-(D-Lys⁶-GnRH) exhibited 6.6 ± 0.1 nM GnRH receptor binding affinity. ¹¹¹In-DOTA-Aoc-D-Phe-(D-Lys⁶-GnRH) exhibited fast tumor uptake and urinary clearance in DU145 human prostate cancer-xenografted nude mice. The DU145 tumor lesions could be clearly visualized by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT using ¹¹¹In-DOTA-Aoc-D-Phe-(D-Lys⁶-GnRH) as an imaging probe, providing an insight into the design of new GnRH peptides for prostate cancer in the future.