PARATHYROID IMAGING BY RADIOLABELED MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY

THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY-BASED IMAGING REAGENT CAPABLE VISUALIZING HUMAN PARATHYROIDGLANDS. THE STUDY WILL BE DIRECTED AT ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN PARATHYROID-SPECIFIC MOUSE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THEIR TARGET ANTIGENS. AS THE CLASS AND SUBCLASS OF ANTIBODIES WILL LIKELY INFLUENCE IMAGING PROPERTIES, VARIANTS OF HYBRIDOMAS WILL BE SELECTED BY FLUORESCENCE-ACTIVATED CELL SORTERS THAT SECRETE IMMUNOGLOBULINS OF DIFFERENT IGG SUBCLASSES AND IGM. THESE ANTIBODIES WILL BE TESTED FOR LOCALIZATION OF HUMAN PARATHYROID FRAGMENTS IN NUDE MICE. FUTURE PHASE II STUDIES WILL FOCUS ON THE IMAGING PARAMETERSOF THESE VARIANT ANTIBODIES IN LARGE ANIMALS, SUCH AS DOGS OR MONKEYS, TO SELECT THE OPTIMAL CONDITIONS FOR IMAGING IN HUMANS.