Rhenium-186-labeled monoclonal antibodies for radioimmunotherapy: preparation and evaluation.

Rhenium-186 has been determined to be a leading radionuclide for radioimmunotherapy. However, the use of 186Re has been limited due to the lack of a convenient and efficient method by which the radionuclide can be bound to monoclonal antibodies. We have developed a simple technique to label IgM, IgG, fragmented antibodies and tumor necrosis factor-alpha with 186Re. This technique uses ascorbic acid (AA) for controlled reduction of antibody disulfide groups to sulfhydryls and SnCl2 in citric acid for the reduction of 186ReO4-. The labeling yields as determined by instant thin-layer chromatography, molecular filtration and gel filtration were greater than 95% and the colloid formation was less than 5%. The labeled antibodies were stable when challenged with 100 and 250 molar excess of DTPA and HSA for 24 hr at 37 degrees C. SDS-PAGE analysis and autoradiography of labeled IgM, IgG and F(ab')2 monoclonal antibodies indicated uniform labeling and that no fragmentation of the monoclonal antibodies had taken place during the labeling procedure. Immunospecificity of 186Re-labeled human neutrophil specific IgM, as determined by in vitro antigen excess assay, was comparable to that of indium-111-labeled c-DTPA-IgM and technetium-99m-labeled-IgM. A nuclear histone specific 186Re-TNT-1-F(ab')2 was evaluated in mice bearing experimental tumors. The tumor/muscle ratios at 4 and 24 hr were 5.9 +/- 0.21 and 13.8 +/- 6.7, respectively compared to that of 2.4 +/- 0.3 at 4 hr p.i. with a nonspecific protein. The labeling technique is simple, reliable and has already been adapted to a single-vial kit preparation.