Iodine-124 Labeled Gold Nanoclusters for Positron Emission Tomography Imaging in Lung Cancer Model

This work reports the synthesis, radiolabeling and imaging studies of iodine-124 labeled peptide modified gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) as positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for lung cancer. The novel modified Au nanoclusters were successfully synthesized by conjugation of tumor-targeting peptide luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) to human serum albumin (HAS) as a scaffold, resulting in 73% labeling yield of I-124-LHRH-HSA AuNCs. After rapid purification, the radiochemical purity was above 98%. Dynamic PET study in normal rats showed high liver accumulation and rapid lung clearance. Both the PET and fluorescence imaging in A549 xenografted tumor model demonstrated certain amount of tumor uptake. In orthotopic lung cancer model, the tumor sites could be clearly visualized between 2 to 5 hours in PET images. The higher radioactivity concentration in the left lung which inoculated orthotopic tumor than right lung also exhibited the targeting properties. The biological properties of this iodine-124 labeled nanoclusters afford potential applications for early diagnosis of lung cancer with PET.