In vivo imaging of the programmed death ligand 1 by 18F PET

DEG Trotter, X Meng, P McQuade… - Journal of Nuclear …, 2017 - Soc Nuclear Med
DEG Trotter, X Meng, P McQuade, D Rubins, M Klimas, Z Zeng, BM Connolly, PJ Miller…
Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2017Soc Nuclear Med
Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immune regulatory ligand that binds to the T-cell
immune check point programmed death 1. Tumor expression of PD-L1 is correlated with
immune suppression and poor prognosis. It is also correlated with therapeutic efficacy of
programmed death 1 and PD-L1 inhibitors. In vivo imaging may enable real-time follow-up
of changing PD-L1 expression and heterogeneity evaluation of PD-L1 expression across
tumors in the same subject. We have radiolabeled the PD-L1–binding Affibody molecule …
Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immune regulatory ligand that binds to the T-cell immune check point programmed death 1. Tumor expression of PD-L1 is correlated with immune suppression and poor prognosis. It is also correlated with therapeutic efficacy of programmed death 1 and PD-L1 inhibitors. In vivo imaging may enable real-time follow-up of changing PD-L1 expression and heterogeneity evaluation of PD-L1 expression across tumors in the same subject. We have radiolabeled the PD-L1–binding Affibody molecule NOTA-ZPD-L1_1 with 18F and evaluated its in vitro and in vivo binding affinity, targeting, and specificity.
Methods
The affinity of the PD-L1–binding Affibody ligand ZPD-L1_1 was evaluated by surface plasmon resonance. Labeling was accomplished by maleimide coupling of NOTA to a unique cysteine residue and chelation of 18F-AlF. In vivo studies were performed in PD-L1–positive, PD-L1–negative, and mixed tumor-bearing severe combined immunodeficiency mice. Tracer was injected via the tail vein, and dynamic PET scans were acquired for 90 min, followed by γ-counting biodistribution. Immunohistochemical staining with an antibody specific for anti–PD-L1 (22C3) was used to evaluate the tumor distribution of PD-L1. Immunohistochemistry results were then compared with ex vivo autoradiographic images obtained from adjacent tissue sections.
Results
NOTA-ZPD-L1_1 was labeled, with a radiochemical yield of 15.1% ± 5.6%, radiochemical purity of 96.7% ± 2.0%, and specific activity of 14.6 ± 6.5 GBq/μmol. Surface plasmon resonance showed a NOTA-conjugated ligand binding affinity of 1 nM. PET imaging demonstrated rapid uptake of tracer in the PD-L1–positive tumor, whereas the PD-L1–negative control tumor showed little tracer retention. Tracer clearance from most organs and blood was quick, with biodistribution showing prominent kidney retention, low liver uptake, and a significant difference between PD-L1–positive (percentage injected dose per gram [%ID/g] = 2.56 ± 0.33) and –negative (%ID/g = 0.32 ± 0.05) tumors (P = 0.0006). Ex vivo autoradiography showed excellent spatial correlation with immunohistochemistry in mixed tumors.
Conclusion
Our results show that Affibody ligands can be effective at targeting tumor PD-L1 in vivo, with good specificity and rapid clearance. Future studies will explore methods to reduce kidney activity retention and further increase tumor uptake.
Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging