molecules Review Radiochemistry, Production Processes, Labeling Methods, and ImmunoPET Imaging Pharmaceuticals of Iodine-124 Krishan Kumar * and Arijit Ghosh Laboratory for Translational Research in Imaging Pharmaceuticals, The Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43212, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] or
[email protected] Abstract: Target-specific biomolecules, monoclonal antibodies (mAb), proteins, and protein frag- ments are known to have high specificity and affinity for receptors associated with tumors and other pathological conditions. However, the large biomolecules have relatively intermediate to long circulation half-lives (>day) and tumor localization times. Combining superior target specificity of mAbs and high sensitivity and resolution of the PET (Positron Emission Tomography) imaging tech- nique has created a paradigm-shifting imaging modality, ImmunoPET. In addition to metallic PET radionuclides, 124I is an attractive radionuclide for radiolabeling of mAbs as potential immunoPET imaging pharmaceuticals due to its physical properties (decay characteristics and half-life), easy and routine production by cyclotrons, and well-established methodologies for radioiodination. The ob- jective of this report is to provide a comprehensive review of the physical properties of iodine and iodine radionuclides, production processes of 124I, various 124I-labeling methodologies for large biomolecules, mAbs, and the development