Focus
The Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry Section is a multidisciplinary research and education group in the Department of Radiology.
The focus of the group is the development of new radiopharmaceuticals that provide diagnostic information on various organs in normal and disease states. Current research interests include developing imaging agents for CNS receptors (dopamine, serotonin neurotransmitter systems), Aß plaque-specific agents for imaging Alzheimer's disease, and sigma-2 specific agents targeting breast tumor imaging. In the last few years imaging of changes in tumor metabolism via glutaminolysis is a major effort. Several C-11 and F-18 glutamine-based PET imaging agents targeting FDG/PET negative tumors have been prepared and were tested in IND studies. Major research activity comprises a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines: drug design, organic synthesis, radiochemistry, receptor pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, PET and SPECT imaging.
Faculty and Staff
Hank Kung, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Radiology
Primary Investigator, Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry Section
Karl Ploessl, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Recent Publications
- Zha Z, Wu Z , Choi SR, Ploessl K, Smith M, Alexoff D, Zhu L, and Kung HF. A new [68Ga]Ga-HBED-CC-bisphosphonate as a bone imaging agent. Mol Pharm. 2020, 17:1674-1684.
- Doot R, Young AJ, Daube-Witherspoon ME, Alexoff D, Labban KJ, Lee H, Wu Z, Zha Z, Choi SR, Ploessl K, Schubert EK, Lee H, Lin Zhu, Reddin J, Karp J, Kung HF, and Pryma DA, Biodistribution, dosimetry, and temporal signal-to-noise ratio analyses of normal and cancer uptake of [68Ga]P15-041, a 68Ga labeled bisphosphonate, from first-in-human studies. Nucl Med Biol 2020; 86–87, 1-8.
- Zhao R, Ploessl K, Zha Z, Choi S, Alexoff D, Zhu L, and Kung HF. Synthesis and Evaluation of 68Ga- and 177Lu-Labeled (R)- vs (S)-DOTAGA Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-Targeting Derivatives. Mol Pharm 2020; 17:4589-4602.
- Hong H, Ploessl K, Zha Z, Wang H, Guo R, Xie Q, Zhu H, Yang Z, Zhu L, and Kung HF. Development and validation of a kit formulation of [68Ga]Ga-P15-041 as a bone imaging agent. Appl Radiat Isot. 2021; 169, 109485.
- Zha Z, Ploessl K, Choi SR, Alexoff D, and Kung HF. Preclinical evaluation of [18F]D3FSP, deuterated AV-45, for imaging of β-amyloid in the brain. Nucl Med Biol. 2021; 92, 97-106.
- Zha Z, Choi SR, Ploessl K, Alexoff D, Zhao R, Zhu L, and Kung HF. Radiolabeling optimization and preclinical evaluation of the new PSMA imaging agent [18F]AlF-P16-093. Bioconjug Chem. 2021; 32, 1017-1026.
- Xu X, Zhu H, Kung HF, Li N, and Yang Z. Benign adrenal nodule mimicking lymphoma differentially diagnosed by [18F]FDG and [18F]FGln PET/CT. Clin Nucl Med. 2021; 46, 474-476.
- Xiao H, Choi SR, Zhao R, Ploessl K, Alexoff D, Zhu, L, Zha Z, and Kung HF. A new highly deuterated [18F]AV-45, [18F]D15FSP, for imaging β-amyloid plaques in the brain. ACS Med Chem Lett. 2021; 12, 1086-1092.
- Wang G, Hong H, Zang J, Liu Q, Jiang Y, Fan X, Zhu Z, Zhu L, and Kung HF. Head-to-head comparison of [68Ga]Ga-P16-093 and [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-617 in dynamic PET/CT evaluation of the same group of recurrent prostate cancer patients. EJNMMI. 2022; 49:1052-62.
- Lee H, Scheuermann JS, Young AJ, Doot RK, Daube-Witherspoon ME, Schubert EK, Fillare MA, Alexoff D, Karp JS, Kung HF, Pryma DA. Preliminary Evaluation of [68Ga]Ga-P16-093, a PET Radiotracer Targeting Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen in Prostate Cancer. Mol. Imaging Biol. 2022; 26:1-11.
- Wong D, Kuwabara H, Kitzmiller K, Nandi A, Brinson Z, George N, Alexoff D, Kung HF. Comparison of [18F]D3FSP ([18F]P16-129) and [18F]AV45 in Alzheimer’s Disease. J Nucl Med Mol Imag. 2019: 60, supplement 1, 1457.
Contact Us
Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry Section/Kung Lab
Department of Radiology
University of Pennsylvania
3700 Market Street, Room 305
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215-662-3989
Fax: 215-349-5035