TECHNETIUM-99m LABELING OF PROTEINS

摘要

A method for attaching technetium-99m to proteins using reducing metal reagents to achieve binding to high affinity binding sites and high specific activity. The reagents play a dual role under the given experimental conditions by reducing disulfide bonds in the proteins to sulfhydral groups suitable for binding to technetium, and reducing pertechnetate from Tc(VII) to Tc(III) or Tc(V). Reduction of disulfide on the protein is conducted initially with an excess of reducing metal reagent, a pertechnetate reagent is added at the end of the protein reduction reaction and allowed to continue to reduce the technetium. Thereafter a chelator scavenger is added to remove poorly bound or unbound technetium.