(64)Cu-Labeled LyP-1-Dendrimer for PET-CT Imaging of Atherosclerotic Plaque

[Image: see text] The ability to detect and quantify macrophage accumulation can provide important diagnostic and prognostic information for atherosclerotic plaque. We have previously shown that LyP-1, a cyclic 9-amino acid peptide, binds to p32 proteins on activated macrophages, facilitating the visualization of atherosclerotic plaque with PET. Yet, the in vivo plaque accumulation of monomeric [(18)F]FBA-LyP-1 was low (0.31 ± 0.05%ID/g). To increase the avidity of LyP-1 constructs to p32, we synthesized a dendritic form of LyP-1 on solid phase using lysine as the core structural element. Imaging probes (FAM or 6-BAT) were conjugated to a lysine or cysteine on the dendrimer for optical and PET studies. The N-terminus of the dendrimer was further modified with an aminooxy group in order to conjugate LyP-1 and ARAL peptides bearing a ketone. Oxime ligation of peptides to both dendrimers resulted in (LyP-1)(4)- and (ARAL)(4)-dendrimers with optical (FAM) and PET probes (6-BAT). For PET-CT studies, (LyP-1)(4)- and (ARAL)(4)-dendrimer-6-BAT were labeled with (64)Cu (t(1/2) = 12.7 h) and intravenously injected into the atherosclerotic (ApoE(–/–)) mice. After two hours of circulation, PET-CT coregistered images demonstrated greater uptake of the (LyP-1)(4)-dendrimer-(64)Cu than the (ARAL)(4)-dendrimer-(64)Cu in the aortic root and descending aorta. Ex vivo images and the biodistribution acquired at three hours after injection also demonstrated a significantly higher uptake of the (LyP-1)(4)-dendrimer-(64)Cu (1.1 ± 0.26%ID/g) than the (ARAL)(4)-dendrimer-(64)Cu (0.22 ± 0.05%ID/g) in the aorta. Similarly, subcutaneous injection of the LyP-1-dendrimeric carriers resulted in preferential accumulation in plaque-containing regions over 24 h. In the same model system, ex vivo fluorescence images within aortic plaque depict an increased accumulation and penetration of the (LyP-1)(4)-dendrimer-FAM as compared to the (ARAL)(4)-dendrimer-FAM. Taken together, the results suggest that the (LyP-1)(4)-dendrimer can be applied for in vivo PET imaging of plaque and that LyP-1 could be further exploited for the delivery of therapeutics with multivalent carriers or nanoparticles.