Two-compartment model for determination of glycolytic rates of solid tumors by in vivo 13C NMR spectroscopy

Assessment of Hypoxia in Breast Cancer: Emerging Functional MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques and Clinical Applications

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer affecting women worldwide. Hypoxia, a condition characterized by insufficient oxygen supply in tumor tissues, is closely associated with tumor aggressiveness, resistance to therapy, and poor clinical outcomes. Accurate assessment of tumor hypoxia can guide treatment decisions, predict therapy response, and contribute to the development of targeted therapeutic interventions. Over the years, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) techniques have emerged as promising noninvasive imaging options for evaluating hypoxia in cancer. Such techniques include blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) MRI, oxygen-enhanced MRI (OE) MRI, chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI, and proton MRS (1H-MRS). These may help overcome the limitations of the routinely used dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques, contributing to better diagnosis and understanding of the biological features of breast cancer. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the emerging functional MRI and MRS techniques for assessing hypoxia in breast cancer, along with their evolving clinical applications. The integration of these techniques in clinical practice holds promising implications for breast cancer management. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 5 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.

GlucoCEST imaging with on-resonance variable delay multiple pulse (onVDMP) MRI

PURPOSE

To examine the detection sensitivity for the rapidly exchanging hydroxyl protons of D-glucose using the recently developed on-resonance variable delay multi-pulse (onVDMP) chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) technique.

METHODS

The onVDMP method was applied for the detection of water signal changes upon venous D-glucose infusion in mice with 9L glioma xenografts. The effect size of onVDMP MRI during infusion was compared with that of conventional continuous wave (CW) CEST MRI.

RESULTS

Both methods highlighted the tumor and the blood vessels on D-glucose infusion. In interleaved studies, the mean signal changes detected by onVDMP were found to be 1.8 times higher than those by CW-CEST, attributed to its high labeling efficiency for fast exchanging protons and the labeling of the OH protons over a larger frequency range.

CONCLUSIONS

The onVDMP method is a more sensitive technique for the detection of exogenous CEST agents with fast-exchanging protons compared to CW-CEST MRI.

Applications of NMR spectroscopy to systems biochemistry

The past decades of advancements in NMR have made it a very powerful tool for metabolic research. Despite its limitations in sensitivity relative to mass spectrometric techniques, NMR has a number of unparalleled advantages for metabolic studies, most notably the rigor and versatility in structure elucidation, isotope-filtered selection of molecules, and analysis of positional isotopomer distributions in complex mixtures afforded by multinuclear and multidimensional experiments. In addition, NMR has the capacity for spatially selective in vivo imaging and dynamical analysis of metabolism in tissues of living organisms. In conjunction with the use of stable isotope tracers, NMR is a method of choice for exploring the dynamics and compartmentation of metabolic pathways and networks, for which our current understanding is grossly insufficient. In this review, we describe how various direct and isotope-edited 1D and 2D NMR methods can be employed to profile metabolites and their isotopomer distributions by stable isotope-resolved metabolomic (SIRM) analysis. We also highlight the importance of sample preparation methods including rapid cryoquenching, efficient extraction, and chemoselective derivatization to facilitate robust and reproducible NMR-based metabolomic analysis. We further illustrate how NMR has been applied in vitro, ex vivo, or in vivo in various stable isotope tracer-based metabolic studies, to gain systematic and novel metabolic insights in different biological systems, including human subjects. The pathway and network knowledge generated from NMR- and MS-based tracing of isotopically enriched substrates will be invaluable for directing functional analysis of other 'omics data to achieve understanding of regulation of biochemical systems, as demonstrated in a case study. Future developments in NMR technologies and reagents to enhance both detection sensitivity and resolution should further empower NMR in systems biochemical research.

Dynamic glucose enhanced (DGE) MRI for combined imaging of blood-brain barrier break down and increased blood volume in brain cancer

PURPOSE

Recently, natural d-glucose was suggested as a potential biodegradable contrast agent. The feasibility of using d-glucose for dynamic perfusion imaging was explored to detect malignant brain tumors based on blood brain barrier breakdown.

METHODS

Mice were inoculated orthotopically with human U87-EGFRvIII glioma cells. Time-resolved glucose signal changes were detected using chemical exchange saturation transfer (glucoCEST) MRI. Dynamic glucose enhanced (DGE) MRI was used to measure tissue response to an intravenous bolus of d-glucose.

RESULTS

DGE images of mouse brains bearing human glioma showed two times higher and persistent changes in tumor compared with contralateral brain. Area-under-curve (AUC) analysis of DGE delineated blood vessels and tumor and had contrast comparable to the AUC determined using dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI with GdDTPA, both showing a significantly higher AUC in tumor than in brain (P < 0.005). Both CEST and relaxation effects contribute to the signal change.

CONCLUSION

DGE MRI is a feasible technique for studying brain tumor enhancement reflecting differences in tumor blood volume and permeability with respect to normal brain. We expect DGE will provide a low-risk and less expensive alternative to DCE MRI for imaging cancer in vulnerable populations, such as children and patients with renal impairment.

Rapid analysis of glycolytic and oxidative substrate flux of cancer cells in a microplate

Cancer cells exhibit remarkable alterations in cellular metabolism, particularly in their nutrient substrate preference. We have devised several experimental methods that rapidly analyze the metabolic substrate flux in cancer cells: glycolysis and the oxidation of major fuel substrates glucose, glutamine, and fatty acids. Using the XF Extracellular Flux analyzer, these methods measure, in real-time, the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) of living cells in a microplate as they respond to substrates and metabolic perturbation agents. In proof-of-principle experiments, we analyzed substrate flux and mitochondrial bioenergetics of two human glioblastoma cell lines, SF188s and SF188f, which were derived from the same parental cell line but proliferate at slow and fast rates, respectively. These analyses led to three interesting observations: 1) both cell lines respired effectively with substantial endogenous substrate respiration; 2) SF188f cells underwent a significant shift from glycolytic to oxidative metabolism, along with a high rate of glutamine oxidation relative to SF188s cells; and 3) the mitochondrial proton leak-linked respiration of SF188f cells increased significantly compared to SF188s cells. It is plausible that the proton leak of SF188f cells may play a role in allowing continuous glutamine-fueled anaplerotic TCA cycle flux by partially uncoupling the TCA cycle from oxidative phosphorylation. Taken together, these rapid, sensitive and high-throughput substrate flux analysis methods introduce highly valuable approaches for developing a greater understanding of genetic and epigenetic pathways that regulate cellular metabolism, and the development of therapies that target cancer metabolism.

Natural D-glucose as a biodegradable MRI contrast agent for detecting cancer

PURPOSE

Modern imaging technologies such as CT, PET, SPECT, and MRI employ contrast agents to visualize the tumor microenvironment, providing information on malignancy and response to treatment. Currently, all clinical imaging agents require chemical labeling, i.e. with iodine (CT), radioisotopes (PET/SPECT), or paramagnetic metals (MRI). The goal was to explore the possibility of using simple D-glucose as an infusable biodegradable MRI agent for cancer detection.

METHODS

D-glucose signals were detected using chemical exchange saturation transfer (glucoCEST) MRI of its hydroxyl groups. Feasibility was established in phantoms as well as in vivo using two human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, implanted orthotopically in nude mice. PET and contrast-enhanced MRI were also acquired.

RESULTS

Both tumor types exhibited significant glucoCEST signal enhancement during systemic sugar infusion (mild hyperglycemia), allowing their noninvasive visualization. GlucoCEST showed differences between types, while PET and CE-MRI did not. Data are discussed in terms of signal contributions from the increased vascular volume in tumors and especially from the acidic extracellular extravascular space (EES), where glucoCEST signal is expected to be enhanced due to a slow down of hydroxyl proton exchange.

CONCLUSIONS

This observation opens up the possibility for using simple non-toxic sugars as contrast agents for cancer detection with MRI by employing hydroxyl protons as a natural label.

Modulation of invasive phenotype by interstitial pressure-driven convection in aggregates of human breast cancer cells

This paper reports the effect of elevated pressure on the invasive phenotype of patterned three-dimensional (3D) aggregates of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. We found that the directionality of the interstitial pressure profile altered the frequency of invasion by cells located at the surface of an aggregate. In particular, application of pressure at one end of an aggregate suppressed invasion at the opposite end. Experimental alteration of the configuration of cell aggregates and computational modeling of the resulting flow and solute concentration profiles revealed that elevated pressure inhibited invasion by altering the chemical composition of the interstitial fluid near the surface of the aggregate. Our data reveal a link between hydrostatic pressure, interstitial convection, and invasion.

How the signal-to-noise ratio influences hyperpolarized 13C dynamic MRS data fitting and parameter estimation

MRS of hyperpolarized (13) C-labeled compounds represents a promising technique for in vivo metabolic studies. However, robust quantification and metabolic modeling are still important areas of investigation. In particular, time and spatial resolution constraints may lead to the analysis of MRS signals with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The relationship between SNR and the precision of quantitative analysis for the evaluation of the in vivo kinetic behavior of metabolites is unknown. In this article, this topic is addressed by Monte Carlo simulations, covering the problem of MRS signal model parameter estimation, with strong emphasis on the peak amplitude and kinetic model parameters. The results of Monte Carlo simulation were confirmed by in vivo experiments on medium-sized animals injected with hyperpolarized [1-(13) C]pyruvate. The results of this study may be useful for the establishment of experimental planning and for the optimization of kinetic model estimation as a function of the SNR value.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of cancer metabolism and response to therapy

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy allows noninvasive in vivo measurements of biochemical information from living systems, ranging from cultured cells through experimental animals to humans. Studies of biopsies or extracts offer deeper insights by detecting more metabolites and resolving metabolites that cannot be distinguished in vivo. The pharmacokinetics of certain drugs, especially fluorinated drugs, can be directly measured in vivo. This review briefly describes these methods and their applications to cancer metabolism, including glycolysis, hypoxia, bioenergetics, tumor pH, and tumor responses to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

MRS and MRSI guidance in molecular medicine: targeting and monitoring of choline and glucose metabolism in cancer

MRS and MRSI are valuable tools for the detection of metabolic changes in tumors. The currently emerging era of molecular medicine, which is shaped by molecularly targeted anticancer therapies combined with molecular imaging of the effects of such therapies, requires powerful imaging technologies that are able to detect molecular information. MRS and MRSI are such technologies that are able to detect metabolites arising from glucose and choline metabolism in noninvasive in vivo settings and at higher resolution in tissue samples. The roles played by MRS and MRSI in the diagnosis of different types of cancer, as well as in the early monitoring of the tumor response to traditional chemotherapies, are reviewed. The emerging roles of MRS and MRSI in the development and detection of novel targeted anticancer therapies that target oncogenic signaling pathways or markers in choline or glucose metabolism are discussed.

Stable isotope resolved metabolomics of lung cancer in a SCID mouse model

We have determined the time course of [U-(13)C]-glucose utilization and transformations in SCID mice via bolus injection of the tracer in the tail vein. Incorporation of (13)C into metabolites extracted from mouse blood plasma and several tissues (lung, heart, brain, liver, kidney, and skeletal muscle) were profiled by NMR and GC-MS, which helped ascertain optimal sampling times for different target tissues. We found that the time for overall optimal (13)C incorporation into tissue was 15-20 min but with substantial differences in (13)C labeling patterns of various organs that reflected their specific metabolism. Using this stable isotope resolved metabolomics (SIRM) approach, we have compared the (13)C metabolite profile of the lungs in the same mouse with or without an orthotopic lung tumor xenograft established from human PC14PE6 lung adenocarcinoma cells. The (13)C metabolite profile shows considerable differences in [U-(13)C]-glucose transformations between the two lung tissues, demonstrating the feasibility of applying SIRM to investigate metabolic networks of human cancer xenograft in the mouse model.

Fast volumetric spatial-spectral MR imaging of hyperpolarized 13C-labeled compounds using multiple echo 3D bSSFP

PURPOSE

The goal of this work was to develop a fast 3D chemical shift imaging technique for the noninvasive measurement of hyperpolarized (13)C-labeled substrates and metabolic products at low concentration.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Multiple echo 3D balanced steady state magnetic resonance imaging (ME-3DbSSFP) was performed in vitro on a syringe containing hyperpolarized [1,3,3-2H3; 1-(13)C]2-hydroxyethylpropionate (HEP) adjacent to a (13)C-enriched acetate phantom, and in vivo on a rat before and after intravenous injection of hyperpolarized HEP at 1.5 T. Chemical shift images of the hyperpolarized HEP were derived from the multiple echo data by Fourier transformation along the echoes on a voxel by voxel basis for each slice of the 3D data set.

RESULTS

ME-3DbSSFP imaging was able to provide chemical shift images of hyperpolarized HEP in vitro, and in a rat with isotropic 7-mm spatial resolution, 93 Hz spectral resolution and 16-s temporal resolution for a period greater than 45 s.

CONCLUSION

Multiple echo 3D bSSFP imaging can provide chemical shift images of hyperpolarized (13)C-labeled compounds in vivo with relatively high spatial resolution and moderate spectral resolution. The increased signal-to-noise ratio of this 3D technique will enable the detection of hyperpolarized (13)C-labeled metabolites at lower concentrations as compared to a 2D technique.

Kinetic modeling of hyperpolarized 13C1-pyruvate metabolism in normal rats and TRAMP mice

PURPOSE

To investigate metabolic exchange between (13)C(1)-pyruvate, (13)C(1)-lactate, and (13)C(1)-alanine in pre-clinical model systems using kinetic modeling of dynamic hyperpolarized (13)C spectroscopic data and to examine the relationship between fitted parameters and dose-response.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Dynamic (13)C spectroscopy data were acquired in normal rats, wild type mice, and mice with transgenic prostate tumors (TRAMP) either within a single slice or using a one-dimensional echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (1D-EPSI) encoding technique. Rate constants were estimated by fitting a set of exponential equations to the dynamic data. Variations in fitted parameters were used to determine model robustness in 15 mm slices centered on normal rat kidneys. Parameter values were used to investigate differences in metabolism between and within TRAMP and wild type mice.

RESULTS

The kinetic model was shown here to be robust when fitting data from a rat given similar doses. In normal rats, Michaelis-Menten kinetics were able to describe the dose-response of the fitted exchange rate constants with a 13.65% and 16.75% scaled fitting error (SFE) for k(pyr-->lac) and k(pyr-->ala), respectively. In TRAMP mice, k(pyr-->lac) increased an average of 94% after up to 23 days of disease progression, whether the mice were untreated or treated with casodex. Parameters estimated from dynamic (13)C 1D-EPSI data were able to differentiate anatomical structures within both wild type and TRAMP mice.

CONCLUSIONS

The metabolic parameters estimated using this approach may be useful for in vivo monitoring of tumor progression and treatment efficacy, as well as to distinguish between various tissues based on metabolic activity.

MetaboMiner--semi-automated identification of metabolites from 2D NMR spectra of complex biofluids

Background

One-dimensional (1D) ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is widely used in metabolomic studies involving biofluids and tissue extracts. There are several software packages that support compound identification and quantification via 1D ¹H NMR by spectral fitting techniques. Because 1D ¹H NMR spectra are characterized by extensive peak overlap or spectral congestion, two-dimensional (2D) NMR, with its increased spectral resolution, could potentially improve and even automate compound identification or quantification. However, the lack of dedicated software for this purpose significantly restricts the application of 2D NMR methods to most metabolomic studies.

Results

We describe a standalone graphics software tool, called MetaboMiner, which can be used to automatically or semi-automatically identify metabolites in complex biofluids from 2D NMR spectra. MetaboMiner is able to handle both ¹H-¹H total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY) and ¹H-¹³C heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) data. It identifies compounds by comparing 2D spectral patterns in the NMR spectrum of the biofluid mixture with specially constructed libraries containing reference spectra of ~500 pure compounds. Tests using a variety of synthetic and real spectra of compound mixtures showed that MetaboMiner is able to identify >80% of detectable metabolites from good quality NMR spectra.

Conclusion

MetaboMiner is a freely available, easy-to-use, NMR-based metabolomics tool that facilitates automatic peak processing, rapid compound identification, and facile spectrum annotation from either 2D TOCSY or HSQC spectra. Using comprehensive reference libraries coupled with robust algorithms for peak matching and compound identification, the program greatly simplifies the process of metabolite identification in complex 2D NMR spectra.

Rhabdomyosarcoma cells show an energy producing anabolic metabolic phenotype compared with primary myocytes

BACKGROUND

The functional status of a cell is expressed in its metabolic activity. We have applied stable isotope tracing methods to determine the differences in metabolic pathways in proliferating Rhabdomysarcoma cells (Rh30) and human primary myocytes in culture. Uniformly 13C-labeled glucose was used as a source molecule to follow the incorporation of 13C into more than 40 marker metabolites using NMR and GC-MS. These include metabolites that report on the activity of glycolysis, Krebs' cycle, pentose phosphate pathway and pyrimidine biosynthesis.

RESULTS

The Rh30 cells proliferated faster than the myocytes. Major differences in flux through glycolysis were evident from incorporation of label into secreted lactate, which accounts for a substantial fraction of the glucose carbon utilized by the cells. Krebs' cycle activity as determined by 13C isotopomer distributions in glutamate, aspartate, malate and pyrimidine rings was considerably higher in the cancer cells than in the primary myocytes. Large differences were also evident in de novo biosynthesis of riboses in the free nucleotide pools, as well as entry of glucose carbon into the pyrimidine rings in the free nucleotide pool. Specific labeling patterns in these metabolites show the increased importance of anaplerotic reactions in the cancer cells to maintain the high demand for anabolic and energy metabolism compared with the slower growing primary myocytes. Serum-stimulated Rh30 cells showed higher degrees of labeling than serum starved cells, but they retained their characteristic anabolic metabolism profile. The myocytes showed evidence of de novo synthesis of glycogen, which was absent in the Rh30 cells.

CONCLUSION

The specific 13C isotopomer patterns showed that the major difference between the transformed and the primary cells is the shift from energy and maintenance metabolism in the myocytes toward increased energy and anabolic metabolism for proliferation in the Rh30 cells. The data further show that the mitochondria remain functional in Krebs' cycle activity and respiratory electron transfer that enables continued accelerated glycolysis. This may be a common adaptive strategy in cancer cells.

In vivo MRS markers of response to CHOP chemotherapy in the WSU-DLCL2 human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma xenograft

To identify 1H-MRS molecular biomarkers of early clinical therapeutic response in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an in vivo longitudinal study was performed on human non-Hodgkin's diffuse large B-cell lymphoma xenografts (WSU-DLCL2) grown in the flanks of female SCID mice. 31P-MRS measurements, which have been demonstrated to be prognostic clinical indices of response (Arias-Mendoza et al. Acad. Radiol. 2004; 11: 368-376) but which provide lower spatial resolution, were included for comparison. The animals received CHOP (cyclophosphamide, hydroxydoxorubicin, oncovin and prednisone) chemotherapy for three 1-week cycles, resulting in stable disease based on tumor volume. Localization of total choline and phosphorus metabolites in vivo was achieved with stimulated echo acquisition mode and image selected in vivo spectroscopy sequences, respectively. Significant decreases in lactate were detected by the selective multiple quantum coherence spectral editing technique after the first cycle of CHOP, whereas total choline and the phosphomonoester/nucleoside triphosphate ratio did not change until the third cycle. Ex vivo extract MRS of tumors corroborated the in vivo results. Histological staining with antibodies to Ki67 revealed a decrease in proliferation rate in CHOP-treated tumors that coincided with the decrease in lactate. This study demonstrates the utility of lactate as an early proliferation-sensitive indicator of therapeutic response in a mouse model of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and serves as a basis for future clinical implementation of these methods.

Isotopomer-based metabolomic analysis by NMR and mass spectrometry

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) together are synergistic in their ability to profile comprehensively the metabolome of cells and tissues. In addition to identification and quantification of metabolites, changes in metabolic pathways and fluxes in response to external perturbations can be reliably determined by using stable isotope tracer methodologies. NMR and MS together are able to define both positional isotopomer distribution in product metabolites that derive from a given stable isotope-labeled precursor molecule and the degree of enrichment at each site with good precision. Together with modeling tools, this information provides a rich functional biochemical readout of cellular activity and how it responds to external influences. In this chapter, we describe NMR- and MS-based methodologies for isotopomer analysis in metabolomics and its applications for different biological systems.

In vivo monitoring response to chemotherapy of human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma xenografts in SCID mice by 1H and 31P MRS

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

A reliable noninvasive method for in vivo detection of early therapeutic response of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients would be of great clinical value. This study evaluates the feasibility of (1)H and (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for in vivo detection of response to combination chemotherapy of human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLCL2) xenografts in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Combination chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, hydroxy doxorubicin, Oncovin, prednisone, and bryostatin 1 (CHOPB) was administered to tumor-bearing SCID mice weekly for up to four cycles. Spectroscopic studies were performed before the initiation of treatment and after each cycle of the CHOPB. Proton MRS for detection of lactate and total choline was performed using a selective multiple-quantum-coherence-transfer (Sel-MQC) and a spin-echo-enhanced Sel-MQC (SEE-Sel-MQC) pulse sequence, respectively. Phosphorus-31 MRS using a nonlocalized, single-pulse sequence without proton decoupling was also performed on these animals.

RESULTS

Significant decreases in lactate and total choline were detected in the DLCL2 tumors after one cycle of CHOPB chemotherapy. The ratio of phosphomonoesters to beta-nucleoside triphosphate (PME/betaNTP, measured by (31)P MRS) significantly decreased in the CHOPB-treated tumors after two cycles of CHOPB. The control tumors did not exhibit any significant changes in either of these metabolites.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that (1)H and (31)P MRS can detect in vivo therapeutic response of NHL tumors and that lactate and choline offer a number of advantages over PMEs as markers of early therapeutic response.

Molecular Imaging of Cancer: Applications of Magnetic Resonance Methods

Cancer is a complex disease exhibiting a host of phenotypic diversities. Noninvasive multinuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) provide an array of capabilities to characterize and understand several of the vascular, metabolic, and physiological characteristics unique to cancer. The availability of targeted contrast agents has widened the scope of MR techniques to include the detection of receptor and gene expression. In this paper, we have highlighted the application of several MR techniques in imaging and understanding cancer.

Why do cancers have high aerobic glycolysis?

If carcinogenesis occurs by somatic evolution, then common components of the cancer phenotype result from active selection and must, therefore, confer a significant growth advantage. A near-universal property of primary and metastatic cancers is upregulation of glycolysis, resulting in increased glucose consumption, which can be observed with clinical tumour imaging. We propose that persistent metabolism of glucose to lactate even in aerobic conditions is an adaptation to intermittent hypoxia in pre-malignant lesions. However, upregulation of glycolysis leads to microenvironmental acidosis requiring evolution to phenotypes resistant to acid-induced cell toxicity. Subsequent cell populations with upregulated glycolysis and acid resistance have a powerful growth advantage, which promotes unconstrained proliferation and invasion.

13C-NMR study of hypoglycemia-induced glycolytic changes in embryonic mouse heart

BACKGROUND

Glucose metabolites can be detected in embryonic mouse tissues using 13C-NMR spectroscopy. The advantage of this method is in its chemical specificity and the ability to follow metabolic changes.

METHODS

In this study, CD-1 mice were mated and embryos excised on gestational day (GD) 10.5 (plug = GD 0.5). Hearts were isolated and cultured in 150 mg/dl glucose (normoglycemic medium) or 40 mg/dl glucose (hypoglycemic medium) for 6 hr. 13C-labeled glucose comprised 62%-64% of total glucose in the culture medium. Pre- and postculture media were treated with deuterated water (D2O), and 13C spectra were obtained using a Bruker Avance 500 MHz spectrometer operating at 11.744 tesla (125.7 MHz for 13C). NMR spectra demonstrated resonances for 13C-glucose in preculture normoglycemic and hypoglycemic media. Postculture spectra for normoglycemic and hypoglycemic media demonstrated 13C-glucose signals as well as a signal for 13C-lactate. Area under the curve (AUC) was measured for the [1-(13)C-glucose] resonance from preculture media and the [3-(13)C-lactate] resonance from postculture media. The ratios of AUC for postculture [3-(13)C-lactate] to preculture [1-(13)C-glucose] were calculated and found to be higher in hypoglycemic than in normoglycemic media.

RESULTS

Our results confirm earlier findings using radiolabeled substrates and suggest that 13C-NMR spectroscopy can be used to study glucose metabolism in isolated embryonic hearts exposed to hypoglycemia.

CONCLUSIONS

NMR effectively measures glucose and its metabolite, lactate, in the same spectrum and thus determines metabolic flux in the isolated embryonic heart after exposure to hypoglycemia and normoglycemia. This method could evaluate glucose metabolism in embryonic tissues following other teratogenic exposures.

Glycolysis as a metabolic marker in orthotopic breast cancer, monitored by in vivo (13)C MRS

Enhanced glycolysis represents a striking feature of cancers and can therefore serve to indicate a malignant transformation. We have developed a noninvasive, quantitative method to characterize tumor glycolysis by monitoring (13)C-labeled glucose and lactate with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This method was applied in MCF7 human breast cancer implanted in the mammary gland of female CD1-NU mice and was further employed to assess tumor response to hormonal manipulation with the antiestrogen tamoxifen. Analysis of the kinetic data based on a unique physiological-metabolic model yielded the rate parameters of glycolysis, glucose perfusion, and lactate clearance in the tumor, as well as glucose pharmacokinetics in the plasma. Treatment with tamoxifen induced a twofold reduction in the rate of glycolysis and of lactate clearance but did not affect the other parameters. This metabolic monitoring can thus serve to evaluate the efficacy of new selective estrogen receptor modulators and may be further extended to improve diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.

Challenges in small animal noninvasive imaging

The current status and challenges of small animal non-invasive imaging is briefly reviewed. The advantages of non-invasive studies on living animals versus post-mortem studies are evaluated. An argument is advanced that even in post-mortem situations, non-invasive imaging may play an important role in efficiently characterizing small animal phenotypes as well as pathology. Issues of data interpretation under anesthetized conditions in live animal studies are also reviewed. The five imaging technologies covered include CT, PET, ultrasound, MRI and optical imaging. The structural and physiological information content of these different modalities is reviewed along with the ability of these techniques to scale down for use in small mammals such as mice and rats. In general, it was found that most of these technologies scale favorably to the study of small mammals, generally providing more physiological information than when used on the larger human scale. This suggests that these types of small mammal imaging capabilities will play a very significant role in the full utilization of these important animal models in biomedical research.

Metabolism of alternative substrates and the bioenergetic status of EMT6 tumor cell spheroids

In order to evaluate the ability of EMT6/Ro multicellular spheroids to utilize various pathways of energy production, (13)C and (31)P MRS have been employed to monitor the metabolism of glucose, glutamine, acetate and propionate. EMT6/Ro spheroids perfused with culture medium containing 5.5 mM glucose maintain stable levels of nucleotide triphosphates (NTP) and phosphocreatine (PCr) for up to 48 h, even in the absence of glutamine. The metabolism of 1-(13)C-glucose was almost entirely to 3-(13)C-lactate (88 +/- 12%, n = 7), even though the perfusion medium was equilibrated with 95% O(2). Labeling was also observed in other glycolytic metabolites, primarily alanine and alpha-glycerolphosphate. A low level of (13)C labeling in glutamate, indicative of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism (TCA cycle), was consistently detected when spheroids were perfused with 1-(13)C-glucose, almost exclusively in the C4 position of glutamate. Labeling of glutamate C2 and C3 was always less than 20% of the labeling in C4 and was usually undetectable. No evidence of adjacent carbon labeling in individual glutamate molecules (indicative of multiple cycles of label incorporation) was found, even in high-resolution (13)C NMR spectra of extracts from cells or spheroids. Despite the predominantly glycolytic metabolism of glucose, the mitochondrial substrate glutamine (2 mM, in the presence of < or =0.5 mM glucose from fetal bovine serum), supported stable levels of NTP and PCr in the tumor cells for up to 12 h. In the presence of 2.5 mM acetate, the bioenergetic status of cells in EMT6 spheroids declined slowly but measurably, and no incorporation of label from 2-(13)C-acetate into other metabolites was detected either in intact perfused spheroids or in high-resolution spectra of extracts. In contrast, when the anaplerotic TCA cycle substrate 3-(13)C-propionate replaced acetate, the high-energy phosphate levels in EMT6/Ro spheroids were somewhat reduced, but stabilized at a new lower level. Incubation of spheroids with 3-(13)C-propionate (with natural abundance glucose and glutamine) resulted in label detectable in the C2 and C3 of glutamate, but the primary labeled compound was methylmalonate, an intermediate in propionate metabolism. Addition of vitamin B(12), a cofactor for methylmalonyl CoA reductase, to the growth medium 24 h prior to perfusion with propionate resulted in the elimination of the methylmalonate resonance. A variety of 2- and 3-labeled metabolites were detected, including succinate, malate and glutamate. Labeling of C2 and C3 of lactate implicated cytoplasmic malic enzyme activity.

Deoxyglucose uptake by a head and neck squamous carcinoma: influence of changes in proliferative fraction

PURPOSE

Positron emission tomography, using the glucose analogue fluorodeoxy-D-glucose (FDG), is proving to be useful in the early response detection of head and neck tumors. Presently mechanisms underlying changes in FDG uptake after therapy are poorly understood. Response of tumors to therapy is often accompanied by a decrease in tumor cell proliferation. The purpose of this study was to assess whether or not changes in the uptake of deoxyglucose (DG) may reflect differences in proliferative fraction independent of other metabolic changes induced by using therapeutic agents.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

HN5 head and neck tumor cells were grown to different cell densities producing populations of cells with different proliferative indices without the need for exogenous agents to manipulate cell-cycle kinetics. (3)H-DG uptake, S-phase fraction (Spf), and lactate production were determined in each population of cells.

RESULTS

Large differences in Spf between populations of cells were associated with differences in DG incorporation. Lactate production was also found to correlate strongly with DG uptake.

CONCLUSION

Therapy-induced changes in FDG uptake by tumors may be partly due to changes in proliferation.