Biodistribution of Novel 68Ga-Radiolabelled HER2 Aptamers in Mice

Background: Two novel HER2 aptamers were recently selected with great potential for the in vitro diagnosis of HER2-positive cancer. The goal of this study was to examine the in vivo diagnostic potential of these HER2 aptamers. Methods: Both HER2 aptamers were radiolabelled with 68Ga, injected in mice bearing a HER2-positive and HER2-negative tumour and evaluated by PET/MRI. Results: Ex vivo bio distribution analysis revealed high uptake in the blood, tissues and organs, except the brain. Interestingly, this high uptake was explained by the slow blood clearance due to non-specific aptamer binding to blood proteins. We observed accumulation of radioactivity in both tumours in time. Although higher uptake in the HER2-positive tumour compared to the HER2-negative tumour was observed, this was accompanied with more necrosis in the HER2-negative tumour, which was observed by 18FDG PET/CT. Conclusion: This work presents a first step towards the development of 68Ga-labelled aptamers for molecular cancer imaging.