Molecular imaging of T cell co-regulator factor B7-H3 with Zr-DS-5573a.

B7-H3 is a transmembrane protein widely expressed in a variety of cancers and has been shown to play a role in anti-tumor immunity. This study aims to develop a molecular imaging probe to identify B7-H3 expression in tumors and to develop Zr-DS-5573a as a theranostic that could aid patient selection in clinical Phase I studies. The anti-B7-H3 humanised monoclonal antibody DS-5573a was labeled with zirconium-89 (Zr-), and assessed for radiochemical purity, immunoreactivity (Lindmo analysis), antigen binding affinity (Scatchard analysis), and serum stability . biodistribution and imaging studies were performed with positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) studies to identify and quantitate Zr-DS-5573a tumor uptake in a B7-H3-positive breast cancer model (MDA-MB-231) and a B7-H3-negative murine colon cancer model (CT26). Imaging and biodistribution studies were also performed in MDA-MB-231 tumor-bearing SCID mice in the absence and presence of therapeutic DS-5573a antibody dose (3 mg/kg DS-5573a). Zr-DS-5573a showed high and specific binding to B7-H3-expressing MDA-MB-231 cells (immunoreactivity on day 0, 75.0 ± 2.9%), and low binding to B7-H3-negative CT26 cells (immunoreactivity on day 0, 10.85 ± 0.11%) . Zr-DS-5573a demonstrated good serum stability with 57.2 ± 2.0% of immunoreactivity remaining on day 7. biodistribution studies showed high uptake of Zr-DS-5573a in B7-H3-expressing MDA-MB-231 tumor-bearing mice, achieving 32.32 ± 6.55 %ID/g on day 7 post injection in BALB/c / mice and 25.76 ± 1.79 %ID/g in SCID mice, with minimal evidence of non-specific uptake in normal tissues, and excellent tumor localization on PET/MRI. In a combined imaging/therapy study, receptor saturation was demonstrated in tumors responding to therapy. Zr-DS-5573a demonstrates specific and prolonged targeting of B7-H3-expressing tumors . Saturation of binding sites was demonstrated in tumors responding to DS-5573a therapy. These results indicate that Zr-DS-5573a has potential to target B7-H3-expressing tumors in cancer patients. Furthermore Zr-DS-5573a has the potential to provide important insights into T cell biology through its specific binding to B7-H3.