The ultimate objective of this project is to demonstrate the synthetic feasibility of novel antibody linked forms of inorganic isotopes, and the proposed work follows the hypothesis that antibody linked toxins and diagnostic probes have the potential for targeting neoplastic tissue with high specificity. Synthetic attempts will focus on boron compounds because the stable isotope 10B is being considered as a pharmacologic agent in boron-neutron capture therapies (BNCT), and on a special class of copper cluster compounds because the short-lived isotope 64Cu (half life 12.8h) is a positron emitter and of interest to positron emission tomography (PET), a diagnostic methodology. The proposed research is thus biomedically relevant because it will attempt to prepare novel pharmacological candidate substances according to a rational design. If the work is successful and if the larger biomedical community chooses to develop the envisioned substances into actual technologies, then the work could have an impact upon neoplastic diseases. The boron investigation will focus on colloidal dispersions of a polymer which contains the phenylboronic acid structural unit, and an established palladium catalyzed coupling reaction with aryl halides will be used in an attempt to modify the surface of this colloid to a form suitable for crosslinking with immunoglobulins. Similarly, either an established amidation reaction or a strong interaction with cationic entities (polyamines) will be the basis of an attempt to link the copper cluster compounds to immunoglobulins. Biological specificity will be tested with a readily available antigen and its corresponding antibody, e.g., BSA and anti-BSA.
