Indirectly radioiodinated exendin-4 as an analytical tool for in vivo detection of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor in a disease setting.

OBJECTIVE: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) has been reported to have therapeutic effects on diabetes and various diseases. Precise detection of GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) can be useful to diagnose and elucidate the mechanism of such diseases. Here we aimed to develop an imaging probe based on GLP-1RA that has high molar activity and sensitivity for detection of low-level GLP-1R expression in non-pancreatic diseases.

METHODS: We selected the agonist exenatide (Ex4) as the parent peptide of a GLP-1R targeting probe and prepared Cys-Ex4 by addition of an N-terminal Cys residue and labeling with the prosthetic agent N-(3-[125 I]iodophenyl)maleimide ([125 I]IPM) to generate [125 I]Ex4ipm. We evaluated the affinity of [125 I]Ex4ipm for GLP-1R, as well as cellular binding profiles in insulinoma and prostate cancer cell lines, and in vivo biodistributions in normal and tumor-bearing mice to assess GLP-1R-dependent accumulation of radioactivity in tissues.

RESULTS: [125 I]Ex4ipm was easily synthesized with high radiochemical yield (73%), radiochemical purity (> 99%), and molar activity (81 GBq/µmol) via a thiol/maleimide reaction. Following administration to mice, [125 I]Ex4ipm accumulated to high levels in the pancreas (23.3% ID/g), with radioactivity co-localizing in areas having insulin-positive β cells. High amounts of radioactivity also accumulated in insulinomas that overexpressed GLP-1R (27.5% ID/g). In contrast, low amounts of [125 I]Ex4ipm accumulation, corresponding to low expression levels of GLP-1R, were observed in prostate cancer cells and xenografts used as a model of non-pancreatic applications.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that [123 I]Ex4ipm could be valuable for GLP-1R imaging in diabetes, insulinomas, and various diseases related to GLP-1R.