Identification of Genes Related to 68Ga-DOTATATE Organ Distribution in Homo Sapiens

Abstract

Purpose 68Ga-DOTATATE is a somatostatin analogue that has been used for imaging neuroendocrine tumours. However, there is nonspecific uptake in some organs, and the reasons for that are not clear. The aim of the study is to outline the dynamic distribution pattern of 68Ga-DOTATATE in human body, and identify the genes responsible for 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake by bioinformatics analysis.Methods 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT was performed in 32 patients, and dynamic total-body PET scanning was performed with uEXPLORER. The gene expression datasets of human organs were downloaded from the Human Protein Atlas. WGCNA analysis was performed to screen the potential genes related to 68Ga-DOTATATE. BindingDB, SEA and SwissTargetPrediction databases were used to predict the potential binding proteins of DOTATATE based on molecular structure. Results Dynamic total-body PET scanning showed that 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake was not consistent with expression of SSTR2 in human organs. WGCNA analysis revealed 800 genes whose expression level was positively correlated to 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake. According to the molecular structure of DOTATATE, 135 proteins with potential binding ability to DOTATATE were screened by analysis based on drug database. Based on the results of the above two parts, 8 proteins were finally obtained, respectively AVPR1A, EPHA8, EPHB4, OPRL1, SSTR2, SSTR5, ST3GAL1 and NPY1R, which had potential binding possibility with DOTATATE, and their expression was positively correlated with 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake.Conclusion WGCNA analysis was combined with the drug database to obtain new potential binding targets of DOTATATE. The bioinformatics approach developed in this study could potentially be used to discover new potential binding targets for molecular imaging agents.