‘3+1' Mixed-Ligand Oxotechnetium(V) Complexes with Affinity for Melanoma: Synthesis and Evaluation in Vitro and in Vivo

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'3+1' Mixed-ligand [(99m)Tc]oxotechnetium complexes with affinity for melanoma were synthesized in a one-pot reaction. Complexation of technetium-99m with a mixture of N-R(3-azapentane-1,5-dithiol) [R = Me, Pr, Bn, Et(2)N(CH(2))(2)] and N-(2-dialkylamino)ethanethiol [alkyl = X = Et, Bu, morpholinyl] using Sn(2+) as the reducing agent resulted in the formation of '3+1' mixed-ligand technetium-99m complexes [TcO(SN(R)S)(SNX(2))] in high radiochemical yield (60-98%). In vitro uptake studies in B16 murine melanoma cells indicated a moderate tumor-cell accumulation (40%) of compound 1 [R = Me, X = Et] and a higher accumulation (69%) of compound 2 [R = Me, X = Bu] after a 60-min incubation. In vivo evaluation of compounds 1-6 in the C57Bl6/B16 mouse melanoma model demonstrated tumor localization. Compound 2 displayed the highest accumulation with up to 5% ID/g at 60 min after injection. In vivo, 2 also showed a low blood-pool activity and high melanoma/spleen (4.3) and melanoma/lung (1.9) ratios at 1 h. These results suggest that small technetium-99m complexes could be useful as potential melanoma-imaging agents.