Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Angiogenesis in a Murine Hindlimb Ischemia Model with 64Cu-Labeled TRC105

The goal of this study was to assess ischemia-induced angiogenesis with Cu-64-NOTA-TRC105 positron emission tomography (PET) in a murine hindlimb ischemia model of peripheral artery disease (PAD). CD 105 binding affinity/specificity of NOTA-conjugated TRC105 (an anti-CD105 antibody) was evaluated by flow cytometry, which exhibited no difference from unconjugated TRC105. BALB/c mice were anesthetized, and the right femoral artery was ligated to induce hindlimb ischemia, with the left hindlimb serving as an internal control. Laser Doppler imaging showed that perfusion in the ischemic hindlimb plummeted to similar to 20% of the normal level after surgery and gradually recovered to near normal level on day 24. Ischemia-induced angiogenesis was noninvasively monitored and quantified with Cu-64-NOTA-TRC105 PET on postoperative days 1, 3, 10, 17, and 24. Cu-64-NOTA-TRC105 uptake in the ischemic hindlimb increased significantly from the control level of 1.6 +/- 0.2 %ID/g to 14.1 +/- 1.9 %ID/g at day 3 (n = 3) and gradually decreased with time (3.4 +/- 1.9 %ID/g at day 24), which correlated well with biodistribution studies performed on days 3 and 24. Blocking studies confirmed the CD105 specificity of tracer uptake in the ischemic hindlimb. Increased CD105 expression on days, 3 and 10 following ischemia was confirmed by histology and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This is the first report of PET imaging of CD105 expression during ischemia-induced angiogenesis. Cu-64-NOTA-TRC105 PET may play multiple roles in future PAD-related research and improve PAD patient management by identifying the optimal timing of treatment and monitoring the efficacy of therapy.