Sulfhydryl selective reactions were explored to conjugate oligomers of a peptidomimetic integrin
v
3 antagonist,4-[2-(3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine-2-ylamino)ethyloxy]benzoyl-2-(
S)-aminoethylsulfonylamino-
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-alanine (IA) tomonoclonal antibody (MoAb) to increase integrin
v
3 receptor-binding avidity. To generate sulfhydryl groups,
N-succinimidyl-
S-acetylthioacetate (SATA) was conjugated to both MoAb and IA. Sulfhydryl groups were thengenerated upon the deacetylation of the protecting acetyl group from the
S-acetylthioacetato (ATA) moiety ofMoAb-(ATA)
n or IA-ATA with 0.02 M hydroxylamine in the presence of 1 mM EDTA at pH 7.2. The majorfocus was on optimizing the reaction concentrations, molar ratios, and reaction pH to conjugate high levels ofIA-(A-SH) to MoAb-(A-SH)
n without causing the inter- and intramolecular cross-linking of MoAb. Stepwisereactions of MoAb-(A-SH)
n (15
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
M MoAb) with a homobifunctional cross-linker, 1,8-bis(maleimido)diethyleneglycol (BM[PEO]
2) at a >50× molar excess to the -SH, followed by the reaction of the purified product MoAb-(A-
S-succinimidomaleimido-[PEO]
2)
n with IA-(A-SH) at pH 7.2 afforded monomeric MoAb-(A-
S-succinimido-[PEO]
2-succinimido-
S-A-IA)
n with <10% high molecular weight oligomeric MoAb. Monomeric MoAb-(A-
S-S-[PEO]
2-S-
S-A-IA)
10 (MoAb-IA
10) radiolabeled with
111In using 2-(
p-isothiocyanatobenzyl)cyclohexyl-DTPAand with
125I using the Iodogen method showed >70% bindability to 0.4
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
M
v
3. When injected iv to nudemice with the receptor-positive M21 tumor, MoAb-IA
10 radiolabeled with both
111In and
125I accumulated rapidlyand was retained in the tumor for a 44 h period while the radioactivity cleared rapidly from the blood, therebyresulting in increasing tumor-to-blood ratios over time. The tumor uptake was similar between the
125I label andthe
111In label for a 44 h period. In contrast, the blood radioactivity was lower, but liver and other organ uptakeswere much higher for the
111In label than for the
125I. The
111In label produced higher tumor-to-blood ratios butmuch lower tumor-to-organ ratios than the
125I. The rapid blood clearance, a short peak tumor uptake time, anda low peak tumor uptake value with prolonged tumor retention of this macromolecule appear to support a hypothesisthat MoAb-IA
10 primarily binds to
v
3 receptors on angiogenic vessels, but not on the tumor. This hypothesiswas substantiated by the fluorescence microscopic analysis of FITC-MoAb-IA
10, which showed that FITC-MoAb-IA
10 outlined neovasculatures but not tumor cells at 4 and 21 h ex vivo. Additional proof was observedwhen blood vessels outlined with rhodamine-lectin, which specifically binds to blood vessels, were superimposableon neovasculatures outlined with FITC-MoAb-IA
10.