Preclinical characterization of 3p-C-DEPA-NCS and 3p-C-DEPA-TFP-PEG4 as potential Actinium-225 bifunctional chelators using DOTA-NCS and macropa-NCS as benchmarks

Abstract Background Actinium-225 ( 225 Ac) based targeted alpha therapies (TAT) have emerged as a promising strategy for the treatment of several cancer types due to its favourable decay properties, including high linear energy transfer and short particle range, which enable precise tumour targeting. However, there are limited bifunctional chelators (BFCs) available for 225 Ac. In this study, we aim to evaluate the potential of DEPA-based chelators for 225 Ac-labelling. Results The BFCs 3p- C -DEPA- NO2 , 3p- C -DEPA- NCS , and 3p- C -DEPA -TFP -PEG 4 were synthesized with high yield (≥ 86%) and purity (> 96%). Excellent radiochemical conversions (RCCs) were achieved for [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p- C -DEPA- NO2 across a range of concentrations (0.7- 13.4 µg) with high RCC’s (93.7 to 96.8%) after 1 h at room temperature. Stability studies demonstrated that over 95% of this 225 Ac-labelled complex remained intact after 6 days in human serum. The HPLC and bioanalyzer analysis of the immunoconjugates 3p- C -DEPA -TFP -PEG 4 -trastuzumab, DOTA-trastuzumab, 3p- C -DEPA-trastuzumab and macropa-trastuzumab showed 98% purity with less than 2% impurities. A RCC of 94.6% was obtained for [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p- C -DEPA-trastuzumab, 93.5% for [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p- C -DEPA -TFP -PEG 4 -trastuzumab, 80.9% for [ 225 Ac]Ac-DOTA-trastuzumab, and 96.5% for [ 225 Ac]Ac-macropa-trastuzumab after 2 h incubation at 37 °C. In PBS, high stability of [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p- C -DEPA -TFP -PEG 4 -trastuzumab was observed (91.3 ± 4.3%), which is comparable to that of [ 225 Ac]Ac-macropa-trastuzumab (81.9 ± 5.6%). In contrast, [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p- C -DEPA-trastuzumab and [ 225 Ac]Ac-DOTA-trastuzumab were less stable in PBS with only 48.3 ± 1.2% and 60.1 ± 0.6% intact tracer left after 10 d. There were no major significant differences between the biodistribution profile of [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p-C-DEPA-trastuzumab, [ 225 Ac]Ac-3p- C -DEPA -TFP -PEG 4 -trastuzumab, [ 225 Ac]Ac-DOTA-trastuzumab and [ 225 Ac]Ac-macropa-trastuzumab in all organs of interest ( p  > 0.05 for all organs). Conclusions 3p- C -DEPA -TFP -PEG₄ demonstrated excellent potential as a bifunctional chelator for 225 Ac, showing high radiolabelling efficiency under mild conditions and outstanding in vitro stability of the resulting 225 Ac-labelled bioconjugate. Further preclinical studies are warranted to validate its therapeutic potential.