Metastatic melanoma imaging using a novel Tc-99m-labeled lactam-cyclized alpha-MSH peptide.

The purpose of this study was to determine the metastatic melanoma imaging property of 99m Tc(EDDA)-HYNIC-Aoc-Nle-CycMSHhex {hydrazinonicotinamide-8-aminooctanoic acid-Nle-c[Asp-His-DPhe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-CONH2 }. HYNIC-Aoc-Nle-CycMSHhex was synthesized using fluorenylmethyloxy carbonyl (Fmoc) chemistry. The IC50 value of HYNIC-Aoc-Nle-CycMSHhex was 0.78 ± 0.13 nM for B16/F10 melanoma cells. 99m Tc(EDDA)-HYNIC-Aoc-Nle-CycMSHhex displayed significantly higher uptake (14.26 ± 2.74 and 10.45 ± 2.31% ID/g) in B16/F10 metastatic melanoma-bearing lung than that in normal lung (0.90 ± 0.15 and 0.53 ± 0.14% ID/g) at 2 and 4 h post-injection, respectively. B16/F10 pulmonary metastatic melanoma lesions were clearly visualized by SPECT/CT using 99m Tc(EDDA)-HYNIC-Aoc-Nle-CycMSHhex as an imaging probe at 2 h post-injection, underscoring its potential as an imaging probe for metastatic melanoma detection.