In Vivo Molecular Imaging of the Efficacy of Aminopeptidase N (APN/CD13) Receptor Inhibitor Treatment on Experimental Tumors Using (68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR) Peptide

INTRODUCTION: The aminopeptidase N (APN/CD13) receptor plays an important role in the neoangiogenic process and metastatic tumor cell invasion. Clinical and preclinical studies reported that bestatin and actinonin are cytotoxic to APN/CD13-positive tumors and metastases due to their APN/CD13-specific inhibitor properties. Our previous studies have already shown that (68)Ga-labeled NGR peptides bind specifically to APN/CD13 expressing tumor cells. The APN/CD13 specificity of (68)Ga-NGR radiopharmaceuticals enables the following of the efficacy of antiangiogenic therapy with APN/CD13-specific inhibitors using positron emission tomography (PET). The aim of this in vivo study was to assess the antitumor effect of bestatin and actinonin treatment in subcutaneous transplanted HT1080 and B16-F10 tumor-bearing animal models using (68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three days after the inoculation of HT1080 and B16-F10 cells, mice were treated with intraperitoneal injection of bestatin (15 mg/kg) or actinonin (5 mg/kg) for 7 days. On the 5(th) and 10(th) day, in vivo PET scans and ex vivo biodistribution studies were performed 90 min after intravenous injection of 5.5 ± 0.2 MBq(68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR). RESULTS: Control-untreated HT1080 and B16-F10 tumors were clearly visualized by the APN/CD13-specific (68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR) radiopharmaceutical. The western blot analysis also confirmed the strong APN/CD13 positivity in the investigated tumors. We found significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower radiopharmaceutical uptake after bestatin treatment and higher radiotracer accumulation in the actinonin-treated HT1080 tumors. In contrast, significantly lower (p ≤ 0.01) (68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR) accumulation was observed in both bestatin- and actinonin-treated B16-F10 melanoma tumors compared to the untreated-control tumors. Bestatin inhibited tumor growth and (68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR) uptake in both tumor models. CONCLUSION: The bestatin treatment is suitable for suppressing the neoangiogenic process and APN/CD13 expression of experimental HT1080 and B16-F10 tumors; furthermore, (68)Ga-NODAGA-c(NGR) is an applicable radiotracer for the in vivo monitoring of the efficacy of the APN/CD13 inhibition-based anticancer therapies.