Non-specific binding of candidate positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers causes resulting PET images to have poor contrast and is a key determinant for the success or failure of imaging drugs. Non-specific binding is thought to arise when radiotracers bind to cell membranes and moieties other than their intended target. We have previously shown the quantum chemical drug-lipid interaction energy descriptor to predict the level of non-specific binding in vivo using a limited set of ten well known PET radiotracers with kinetic modeling data taken from literature. We have validated and extended the use of this descriptor using a new set of twenty-two candidate PET radiotracers with non-specific binding data recently collected at the same imaging center with consistent methodology. Significant correlation is found between the quantum chemical drug-lipid interaction energy and in vivo non-specific binding experimental values. Attempts to use Semi-empirical methods to model this descriptor will be discussed.

Evaluation of quantum chemical methods for the prediction of non-specific binding of positron emission tomography tracers

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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