The 18-membered macrocycle H macropa was investigated for Ac chelation in targeted alpha therapy (TAT). Radiolabeling studies showed that macropa, at submicromolar concentration, complexed all Ac (26 kBq) in 5 min at RT. [ Ac(macropa)] remained intact over 7 to 8 days when challenged with either excess La ions or human serum, and did not accumulate in any organ after 5 h in healthy mice. A bifunctional analogue, macropa-NCS, was conjugated to trastuzumab as well as to the prostate-specific membrane antigen-targeting compound RPS-070. Both constructs rapidly radiolabeled Ac in just minutes at RT, and macropa-Tmab retained>99 % of its Ac in human serum after 7 days. In LNCaP xenograft mice, Ac-macropa-RPS-070 was selectively targeted to tumors and did not release free Ac over 96 h. These findings establish macropa to be a highly promising ligand for Ac chelation that will facilitate the clinical development of Ac TAT for the treatment of soft-tissue metastases.

The α-emitting radionuclide actinium-225 possesses nuclear properties that are highly promising for use in targeted α therapy (TAT), a therapeutic strategy that employs α particle emissions to destroy tumors. A key factor, however, that may hinder the clinical use of actinium-225 is the poor understanding of its coordination chemistry, which creates challenges for the development of suitable chelation strategies for this ion. In this article, we provide an overview of the known chemistry of actinium and a summary of the chelating agents that have been explored for use in actinium-225-based TAT. This overview provides a starting point for researchers in the field of TAT to gain an understanding of this valuable therapeutic radionuclide.

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Insoluble BaSO4 scale is a costly and time-consuming problem in the petroleum industry. Clearance of BaSO4-impeded pipelines requires chelating agents that can efficiently bind Ba2+, the largest non-radioactive +2 metal ion. Due to the poor affinity of currently available chelating agents for Ba2+, however, the dissolution of BaSO4 remains inefficient, requiring very basic solutions of ligands. In this study, we investigated three diaza-18-crown-6 macrocycles bearing different pendent arms for the chelation of Ba2+ and assessed their potential for dissolving BaSO4 scale. Remarkably, the bis-picolinate ligand macropa exhibits the highest affinity reported to date for Ba2+ at pH 7.4 (log Kʹ = 10.74), forming a complex of significant kinetic stability with this large metal ion. Furthermore, the BaSO4-dissolution properties of this ligand dramatically surpass those of the state-of-the-art ligands DTPA and DOTA. Using macropa, complete dissolution of a molar equivalent of BaSO4 is reached within 30 min at RT in pH 8 buffer, conditions under which DTPA and DOTA only achieve 40% dissolution of BaSO4. When further applied for the dissolution of natural barite samples, macropa also outperforms DTPA, showing that this ligand is potentially valuable for industrial processes. Collectively, this work demonstrates that macropa is a highly effective chelator for Ba2+ that can be applied for the remediation of BaSO4 scale.

The therapeutic alpha-emitter 223Ra can be stably complexed in vivo, creating opportunities for the development of targeted radiopharmaceutical agents with this radionuclide.