Targeting of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 by 18F-labelled nanobodies for PET/CT imaging of inflamed atherosclerotic plaques

  • Bala, Gezim
  • Blykers, Anneleen
  • Xavier, Catarina
  • Descamps, Benedicte
  • Broisat, Alexis
  • Ghezzi, Catherine
  • Fagret, Daniel
  • Van Camp, Guy
  • Caveliers, Vicky
  • Vanhove, Christian
  • Lahoutte, Tony
  • Droogmans, Steven
  • Cosyns, Bernard
  • Devoogdt, Nick
  • Hernot, Sophie

  • 1 Centrum voor Hart-en Vaatziekten (CHVZ), UZ Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    2 In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging (ICMI), Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, Brussels B-1090, Belgium

    3 iMinds-IBiTech-MEDISIP, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Universiteit Gent, Ghent, Belgium

    4 Radiopharmaceutiques Biocliniques, INSERM, 1039—Université de Grenoble, La Tronche, France

    5 Nuclear Medicine Department, UZ Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

Corresponding author. Tel: +32 2 477 49 91; Fax: +32 2 477 50 17. E-mail: [email protected]

Received August 21, 2015

Accepted December 12, 2015

European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Imaging 17(9):p 1001-1008, September 2016. | DOI: 10.1093/ehjci/jev346

Aims

Positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) is a highly sensitive clinical molecular imaging modality to study atherosclerotic plaque biology. Therefore, we sought to develop a new PET tracer, targeting vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 and validate it in a murine atherosclerotic model as a potential agent to detect atherosclerotic plaque inflammation.

Methods and results

The anti-VCAM-1 nanobody (Nb) (cAbVCAM-1–5) was radiolabelled with Fluorine-18 (18F), with a radiochemical purity of >98%. In vitro cell-binding studies showed specific binding of the tracer to VCAM-1 expressing cells. In vivo PET/CT imaging of ApoE−/− mice fed a Western diet or control mice was performed at 2h30 post-injection of [18F]-FB-cAbVCAM-1–5 or 18F-control Nb. Additionally, plaque uptake in different aorta segments was evaluated ex vivo based on extent of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic lesions in the aortic arch of ApoE−/− mice, injected with [18F]-FB-anti-VCAM-1 Nb, were successfully identified using PET/CT imaging, while background signal was observed in the control groups. These results were confirmed by ex vivo analyses where uptake of [18F]-FB-cAbVCAM-1–5 in atherosclerotic lesions was significantly higher compared with control groups. Moreover, uptake increased with the increasing extent of atherosclerosis (Score 0: 0.68 ± 0.10, Score 1: 1.18 ± 0.36, Score 2: 1.49 ± 0.37, Score 3: 1.48 ± 0.38%ID/g, Spearman's r2 = 0.675, P < 0.0001). High lesion-to-heart, lesion-to-blood, and lesion-to-control vessel ratios were obtained (12.4 ± 0.4, 3.3 ± 0.4, and 3.1 ± 0.6, respectively).

Conclusion

The [18F]-FB-anti-VCAM-1 Nb, cross-reactive for both mouse and human VCAM-1, allows non-invasive PET/CT imaging of VCAM-1 expression in atherosclerotic plaques in a murine model and may represent an attractive tool for imaging vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques in patients.

Copyright © 2016European Society of Cardiology