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Evaluation of traumatic spinal cord injury in a rat model using<sup>99m</sup> Tc-GA-5 as a potential in vivo tracer

Abstract:

Spinal cord injury (SCI) refers to the damage suffered in the spinal cord by any trauma or pathology. The purpose of this work was to determine whether99m Tc-GA-5, a radiotracer targeting Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP), can reveal in vivo the reactivation of astrocytes in a murine model with SCI. A method for the99m Tc radiolabeling of the mouse anti-GFAP monoclonal antibody GA-5 was implemented. Radiochemical characterization was performed, and radioimmunohisto-chemistry assays were used to evaluate the integrity of99m Tc-GA-5. MicroSPECT/CT was used for in vivo imaging to trace SCI in the rats. No alterations in the GA-5’s recognition/specificity ability were observed after the radiolabeling. The GA-5’s radiolabeling procedure implemented in this work offers a practical method to allow the in vivo following of this monoclonal antibody to evaluate its biodistribution and specificity for GFAP receptors using SPECT/CT molecular imaging.