TECHNETIUM-99M DIRECT RADIOLABELING OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY IOR EGF/R3

Abstract Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are being widely used for imaging studies, coupled mainly with 99m Tc. The antibody ior egf/r3 is a MAb against human epidermal growth factor receptor (hEGF-r), and we have developed a method for optimum labeling of this MAb with 99m Tc. The reduction was performed with 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) at a molar ratio of 2000:1 (2-ME:MAb) and methylene diphosphonate as transchelant. The integrity of reduced MAb was checked by mean of native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and gel filtration chromatography on Superose 12 (purity >99%). Radio colloids remained lower than 2%, and the labeling efficiency was 98.5%. The number of sulfhydryl groups generated was quantified using Ellman's reagent and was found to be 6.65 ± 0.69 per antibody molecule. In vitro stability studies in several challenging conditions (DTPA, human serum albumin and human serum) were performed, and no significant loss in binding percentage was seen. Radio receptor assay was used to test immunoreactivity of the reduced MAb. Both labeled and unlabeled MAbs were able to compete for binding to the hEGF-r with radioiodinated EGF. Biodistribution studies in BALB/c mice are reported.