Research towards the non-invasive imaging of atherosclerotic plaques is of high clinical priority as early recognition of vulnerable plaques may reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events. The fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) was recently proposed as inflammation-induced protease involved in the process of plaque vulnerability. In this study, FAP mRNA and protein levels were investigated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively, in human endarterectomized carotid plaques. A published boronic-acid based FAP inhibitor, MIP-1232, was synthetized and radiolabeled with iodine-125. The potential of this radiotracer to image plaques was evaluated by in vitro autoradiography with human carotid plaques. Specificity was assessed with a xenograft with high and one with low FAP level, grown in mice. Target expression analyses revealed a moderately higher protein level in atherosclerotic plaques than normal arteries correlating with plaque vulnerability. No difference in expression was determined on mRNA level. The radiotracer was successfully produced and accumulated strongly in the FAP-positive SK-Mel-187 melanoma xenograft in vitro while accumulation was negligible in an NCI-H69 xenograft with low FAP levels. Binding of the tracer to endarterectomized tissue was similar in plaques and normal arteries, hampering its use for atherosclerosis imaging.
对动脉粥样硬化斑块的非侵入性成像研究在临床上具有高度优先性,因为早期识别易损斑块可能减少心血管事件的发生。纤维母细胞活化蛋白α(FAP)最近被提出为一种与炎症相关的
蛋白酶,参与斑块易损性的过程。在这项研究中,通过定量聚合酶链反应和免疫组化方法,分别调查了人类动脉切除术中取出的颈动脉斑块中FAP mRNA和蛋白
水平。合成了一种已发表的基于
硼酸的FAP
抑制剂MIP-1232,并用
碘-125进行了放射性标记。通过与人类颈动脉斑块进行体外自显影,评估了该放射性示踪剂成像斑块的潜力。特异性通过在小鼠中生长的高FAP
水平和低FAP
水平的异种移植瘤进行评估。目标表达分析显示动脉粥样硬化斑块中的蛋白
水平与正常动脉相比略高,这与斑块的易损性相关。在mRNA
水平上未发现表达差异。该放射性示踪剂成功生产,并在体外强烈积累于FAP阳性的SK-Mel-187
黑色素瘤异种移植瘤中,而在FAP
水平低的NCI-H69异种移植瘤中的积累则微不足道。示踪剂与动脉切除组织的结合在斑块和正常动脉中相似,阻碍了其在动脉粥样硬化成像中的应用。