High yield direct 76Br-bromination of monoclonal antibodies using chloramine-T

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) A33 was labeled with the positron emitter 76Br ( T 1/2=16.2 h). Direct labeling was done using the conventional chloramine-T method. After optimization of the labeling conditions, a maximum yield (mean ± max error) of 77 ± 2% was obtained at pH 6.8. In vitro binding of 76Br-A33 to SW1222 colonic cancer cells showed that the immunoreactivity was retained. Also, the MAbs 38S1 and 3S193 and the peptide hEGF were 76Br-labeled, resulting in labeling yields (mean ± max error) of 75 ± 3%, 63 ± 4%, and 73 ± 0.1%, respectively. We conclude that antibodies and peptides can be labeled conveniently with 76Br for the purpose of whole-body tumour imaging by positron emission tomography.