Efficient discrimination of transplutonium actinides by in vivo models

• Published in: Chemical science (Cambridge) Vol. 12; no. 14; pp. 5295 - 5301
• Main Authors: Pallares, Roger M, An, Dahlia D, Deblonde, Gauthier J-P, Kullgren, Birgitta, Gauny, Stacey S, Jarvis, Erin E, Abergel, Rebecca J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 10.03.2021; Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC); The Royal Society of Chemistry
• Subjects: Actinides; Atomic properties; Biomimetics; Chelation; Chemical compounds; Chemical properties; Chemistry; Diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid; Liver; Organs; Pharmacology; Radioactive wastes; Radioisotopes
• ISSN: 2041-6520; 2041-6539
• DOI: 10.1039/d0sc06610a

Transplutonium actinides are among the heaviest elements whose macroscale chemical properties can be experimentally tested. Being scarce and hazardous, their chemistry is rather unexplored, and they have traditionally been considered a rather homogeneous group, with most of their characteristics extrapolated from lanthanide surrogates. Newly emerged applications for these elements, combined with their persistent presence in nuclear waste, however, call for a better understanding of their behavior in complex living systems. In this work, we explored the biodistribution and excretion profiles of four transplutonium actinides ( Cm, Bk, Cf and Es) in a small animal model, and evaluated their sequestration and decorporation by two therapeutic chelators, diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid and 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) Notably, the organ deposition patterns of those transplutonium actinides were element-dependent, particularly in the liver and skeleton, where lower atomic number radionuclides showed up to 7-fold larger liver/skeleton accumulation ratios. Nevertheless, the metal content in multiple organs was significantly decreased for all tested actinides, particularly in the liver, after administering the therapeutic agent 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) post-contamination. Lastly, the systematic comparison of the radionuclide biodistributions showed discernibly element-dependent organ depositions, which may provide insights into design rules for new bio-inspired chelating systems with high sequestration and separation performance.