Aspects of positron emission tomography radiochemistry as relevant for food chemistry

Click Chemistry and Radiochemistry: The First 10 Years

The advent of click chemistry has had a profound influence on almost all branches of chemical science. This is particularly true of radiochemistry and the synthesis of agents for positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and targeted radiotherapy. The selectivity, ease, rapidity, and modularity of click ligations make them nearly ideally suited for the construction of radiotracers, a process that often involves working with biomolecules in aqueous conditions with inexorably decaying radioisotopes. In the following pages, our goal is to provide a broad overview of the first 10 years of research at the intersection of click chemistry and radiochemistry. The discussion will focus on four areas that we believe underscore the critical advantages provided by click chemistry: (i) the use of prosthetic groups for radiolabeling reactions, (ii) the creation of coordination scaffolds for radiometals, (iii) the site-specific radiolabeling of proteins and peptides, and (iv) the development of strategies for in vivo pretargeting. Particular emphasis will be placed on the four most prevalent click reactions-the Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), the strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC), the inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction (IEDDA), and the Staudinger ligation-although less well-known click ligations will be discussed as well. Ultimately, it is our hope that this review will not only serve to educate readers but will also act as a springboard, inspiring synthetic chemists and radiochemists alike to harness click chemistry in even more innovative and ambitious ways as we embark upon the second decade of this fruitful collaboration.

Cysteine cathepsins: their role in tumor progression and recent trends in the development of imaging probes

Papain-like cysteine proteases bear an enormous potential as drug discovery targets for both infectious and systemic human diseases. The considerable progress in this field over the last two decades has also raised interest in the visualization of these enzymes in their native context, especially with regard to tumor imaging. After a short introduction to structure and general functions of human cysteine cathepsins, we highlight their importance for drug discovery and development and provide a critical update on the current state of knowledge toward their involvement in tumor progression, with a special emphasis on their role in therapy response. In accordance with a radiopharmaceutical point of view, the main focus of this review article will be the discussion of recently developed fluorescence and radiotracer-based imaging agents together with related molecular probes.

Gallium-68: chemistry and radiolabeled peptides exploring different oncogenic pathways

Abstract Early and specific tumor detection and also therapy selection and response evaluation are some challenges of personalized medicine. This calls for high sensitive and specific molecular imaging such as positron emission tomography (PET). The use of peptides for PET molecular imaging has undeniable advantages: possibility of targeting through peptide-receptor interaction, small size and low-molecular weight conferring good penetration in the tissue or at cellular level, low toxicity, no antigenicity, and possibility of wide choice for radiolabeling. Among β(+)-emitter radioelements, Gallium-68 is a very attractive positron-emitter compared with carbon-11 or fluorine-18 taking into account its easy production via a (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator and well established radiochemistry. Gallium-68 chemistry is based on well-defined coordination complexes with macrocycle or chelates having strong binding properties, particularly suitable for linking peptides that allow resistance to in vivo transchelation of the metal ion. Understanding specific and nonspecific molecular mechanisms involved in oncogenesis is one major key to develop new molecular imaging tools. The present review focuses on peptide signaling involved in different oncogenic pathways. This peptide signalization might be common for tumoral and non-tumoral processes or could be specific of an oncological process. This review describes gallium chemistry and different (68)Ga-radiolabeled peptides already in use or under development aiming at developing molecular PET imaging of different oncological processes.

4-[18F]Fluoro-N-methyl-N-(propyl-2-yn-1-yl)benzenesulfonamide ([18F]F-SA): a versatile building block for labeling of peptides, proteins and oligonucleotides with fluorine-18 via Cu(I)-mediated click chemistry

Cu(I)-mediated [3+2]cycloaddition between azides and alkynes has evolved into a valuable bioconjugation tool in radiopharmaceutical chemistry. We have developed a simple, convenient and reliable radiosynthesis of 4-[18F]fluoro-N-methyl-N-(propyl-2-yn-1-yl)benzenesulfonamide ([18F]F-SA) as a novel aromatic sulfonamide-based click chemistry building block. [18F]F-SA could be prepared in a remotely controlled synthesis unit in 32 ± 5% decay-corrected radiochemical yield in a total synthesis time of 80 min. The determined lipophilicity of [18F]F-SA (logP = 1.7) allows handling of the radiotracer in aqueous solutions. The versatility of [18F]F-SA as click chemistry building block was demonstrated by the labeling of a model peptide (phosphopeptide), protein (HSA), and oligonucleotide (L-RNA). The obtained radiochemical yields were 77% (phosphopeptide), 55-60% (HSA), and 25% (L-RNA), respectively. Despite the recent emergence of a multitude of highly innovative novel bioconjugation methods for 18F labeling of biopolymers, Cu(I)-mediated click chemistry with [18F]F-SA represents a reliable, robust and efficient radiolabeling technique for peptides, proteins, and oligonucleotides with the short-lived positron emitter 18F.

Biodistribution and elimination study of fluorine-18 labeled Nε-carboxymethyl-lysine following intragastric and intravenous administration

Background

N^ε-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) is a major advanced glycation end-product (AGEs) widely found in foods. The aim of our study was to evaluate how exogenous CML-peptide is dynamically absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and eliminated by renal tubular secretion using microPET imaging.

Methods

The present study consisted of three investigations. In study I, we synthesized the imaging tracer ¹⁸F-CML by reacting N-succinimidyl 4-¹⁸F-fluorobenzoate (¹⁸F-SFB) with CML. In study II, the biological activity of ¹⁸F-CML was evaluated in RAW264.7 cells and HepG2 cells. In study III, the biodistribution and elimination of AGEs in ICR mice were studied in vivo following tail vein injection and intragastric administration of ¹⁸F-CML.

Result

The formation of ¹⁸F-CML was confirmed by comparing its retention time with the corresponding reference compound ¹⁹F-CML. The radiochemical purity (RCP) of ¹⁸F-CML was >95%, and it showed a stable character in vitro and in vivo. Uptake of ¹⁸F-CML by RAW264.7 cells and HepG2 cells could be inhibited by unmodified CML. ¹⁸F-CML was quickly distributed via the blood, and it was rapidly excreted through the kidneys 20 min after tail vein injection. However, ¹⁸F-CML was only slightly absorbed following intragastric administration. After administration of ¹⁸F-CML via a stomach tube, the radioactivity was completely localized in the stomach for the first 15 min. At 150 min post intragastric administration, intense accumulation of radioactivity in the intestines was still observed.

Conclusions

PET technology is a powerful tool for the in vivo analysis of the gastrointestinal absorption of orally administered drugs. ¹⁸F-CML is hardly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. It is rapidly distributed and eliminated from blood following intravenous administration. Thus, it may not be harmful to healthy bodies. Our study showed the feasibility of noninvasively imaging ¹⁸F-labeled AGEs and was the first to describe CML-peptide gastrointestinal absorption by means of PET.

Accelerating image reconstruction in dual-head PET system by GPU and symmetry properties

Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important imaging modality in both clinical usage and research studies. We have developed a compact high-sensitivity PET system that consisted of two large-area panel PET detector heads, which produce more than 224 million lines of response and thus request dramatic computational demands. In this work, we employed a state-of-the-art graphics processing unit (GPU), NVIDIA Tesla C2070, to yield an efficient reconstruction process. Our approaches ingeniously integrate the distinguished features of the symmetry properties of the imaging system and GPU architectures, including block/warp/thread assignments and effective memory usage, to accelerate the computations for ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) image reconstruction. The OSEM reconstruction algorithms were implemented employing both CPU-based and GPU-based codes, and their computational performance was quantitatively analyzed and compared. The results showed that the GPU-accelerated scheme can drastically reduce the reconstruction time and thus can largely expand the applicability of the dual-head PET system.

F-18 labeling protocol of peptides based on chemically orthogonal strain-promoted cycloaddition under physiologically friendly reaction conditions

We introduce the high-throughput synthesis of various (18)F-labeled peptide tracers by a straightforward (18)F-labeling protocol based on a chemo-orthogonal strain-promoted alkyne azide cycloaddition (SPAAC) using aza-dibenzocyclootyne-substituted peptides as precursors with (18)F-azide synthon to develop peptide based positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging probes. The SPAAC reaction and subsequent chemo-orthogonal purification reaction with azide resin proceeded quickly and selectively under physiologically friendly reaction conditions (i.e., toxic chemical reagents-free, aqueous medium, room temperature, and pH ≈7), and provided four (18)F-labeled tumor targetable bioactive peptides such as cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp (cRGD) peptide, bombesin (BBN), c-Met binding peptide (cMBP), and apoptosis targeting peptide (ApoPep) in high radiochemical yields as direct injectable solutions without any HPLC purification and/or formulation processes. In vitro binding assay and in vivo PET molecular imaging study using the (18)F-labeled cRGD peptide also demonstrated a successful application of our (18)F-labeling protocol.

Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of [18F]-labeled 2-oxoquinoline derivatives for PET imaging of cannabinoid CB2 receptor

INTRODUCTION

The cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB(2)) is an important target for development of drugs and imaging agents for diseases, such as neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and cancer. Recently, we reported synthesis and results of in vitro receptor binding of a focused library of fluorinated 2-oxoquinoline derivatives as CB(2) receptor ligands. Some of the compounds demonstrated to be good CB(2)-specific ligands with Ki values in the nanomolar to subnanomolar concentrations; therefore, we pursued the development of their (18)F-labeled analogues that should be useful for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of CB(2) receptor expression. Here, we report the radiosynthesis of two (18)F-labeled 2-oxoquinoline derivatives and the preliminary in vitro and ex vivo evaluation of one compound as a CB(2)-specific radioligand.

METHODS

4-[(18)F]fluorobenzyl amine [(18)F]-3 was prepared by radiofluorination of 4-cyano-N,N,N-trimethylanilinium triflate salt followed by reduction with LiAlH(4) and then coupled with acid chlorides 11 and 12 to afford [(18)F]-13 and [(18)F]-14. In vitro CB(2) receptor binding assay was performed using U87 cells transduced with CB(2) and CB(1) receptor. Ex vivo autoradiography was performed with [(18)F]-14 on spleen and on CB(2)- and CB(1)-expressing and wild-type U87 subcutaneous tumors grown in mice.

RESULTS

The radiochemical yields of [(18)F]-13 and [(18)F]-14 were 10%-15.0% with an average of 12% (n=10); radiochemical purity was >99% with specific activity 1200 mCi/μmol. The dissociation constant Kd for [(18)F]-14 was 3.4 nM. Ex vivo autoradiography showed accumulation of [(18)F]-14 in the CB(2)-expressing tumor.

CONCLUSION

Two new [(18)F]-labeled CB(2) ligands have been synthesized. Compound [(18)F]-14 appears to be a potential PET imaging agent for the assessment of CB(2) receptor expression; however, poor solubility restrain its use in vivo.

Radiopharmaceutical chemistry for positron emission tomography

Molecular imaging is an emerging technology that allows the visualization of interactions between molecular probes and biological targets. Molecules that either direct or are subject to homeostatic controls in biological systems could be labeled with the appropriate radioisotopes for the quantitative measurement of selected molecular interactions during normal tissue homeostasis and again after perturbations of the normal state. In particular, positron emission tomography (PET) offers picomolar sensitivity and is a fully translational technique that requires specific probes radiolabeled with a usually short-lived positron-emitting radionuclide. PET has provided the capability of measuring biological processes at the molecular and metabolic levels in vivo by the detection of the gamma rays formed as a result of the annihilation of the positrons emitted. Despite the great wealth of information that such probes can provide, the potential of PET strongly depends on the availability of suitable PET radiotracers. However, the development of new imaging probes for PET is far from trivial and radiochemistry is a major limiting factor for the field of PET. In this review, we provided an overview of the most common chemical approaches for the synthesis of PET-labeled molecules and highlighted the most recent developments and trends. The discussed PET radionuclides include ¹¹C (t₁(/)₂=20.4min), ¹³N (t₁(/)₂=9.9min), ¹⁵O (t₁(/)₂=2min), ⁶⁸Ga (t₁(/)₂=68min), ¹⁸F (t₁(/)₂=109.8min), ⁶⁴Cu (t₁(/)₂=12.7h), and ¹²⁴I (t₁(/)₂=4.12d).

Synthesis and application of 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzylamine: A versatile building block for the preparation of PET radiotracers

A novel synthesis of 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzylamine ([(18)F]FBA) by means of transition metal-assisted sodium borohydride reduction of 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzonitrile ([(18)F]FBN) is described. This approach could successfully be extended to borohydride exchange resin (BER) enabling a viable option for use in automated syntheses. [(18)F]FBA was used for the synthesis of 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzylamine-based thiol group-reactive prosthetic groups 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzyl-2-bromoacetamide ([(18)F]FBBA) and 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzylamidopropionyl maleimide ([(18)F]FBAPM). [(18)F]FBBA and [(18)F]FBAPM were obtained in radiochemical yields of 75% and 55%, respectively. Feasibility of using [(18)F]FBAPM as novel prosthetic group for peptide and protein labelling was demonstrated with cysteine-containing tripeptide glutathione (GSH). [(18)F]FBBA was used for labelling of a fully phosphorothioated 20mer oligodesoxynucleotide (ODN).

Radiolabelling of proteins with fluorine-18 via click chemistry

The study describes for the first time the application of Cu(I)-mediated 1,3-dipolar [3+2]cycloaddition for the labelling of proteins with the short-lived positron emitter fluorine-18 as exemplified with azide-functionalized human serum albumin (HSA).

Synthesis and application of [18F]FDG-maleimidehexyloxime ([18F]FDG-MHO): a [18F]FDG-based prosthetic group for the chemoselective 18F-labeling of peptides and proteins

2-[(18)F]Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([(18)F]FDG) as the most important PET radiotracer is available in almost every PET center. However, there are only very few examples using [(18)F]FDG as a building block for the synthesis of (18)F-labeled compounds. The present study describes the use of [(18)F]FDG as a building block for the synthesis of (18)F-labeled peptides and proteins. [(18)F]FDG was converted into [(18)F]FDG-maleimidehexyloxime ([(18)F]FDG-MHO), a novel [(18)F]FDG-based prosthetic group for the mild and thiol group-specific (18)F labeling of peptides and proteins. The reaction was performed at 100 degrees C for 15 min in a sealed vial containing [(18)F]FDG and N-(6-aminoxy-hexyl)maleimide in 80% ethanol. [(18)F]FDG-MHO was obtained in 45-69% radiochemical yield (based upon [(18)F]FDG) after HPLC purification in a total synthesis time of 45 min. Chemoselecetive conjugation of [(18)F]FDG-MHO to thiol groups was investigated by the reaction with the tripeptide glutathione (GSH) and the single cysteine containing protein annexin A5 (anxA5). Radiolabeled annexin A5 ([(18)F]FDG-MHO-anxA5) was obtained in 43-58% radiochemical yield (based upon [(18)F]FDG-MHO, n = 6), and [(18)F]FDG-MHO-anxA5 was used for a pilot small animal PET study to assess in vivo biodistribution and kinetics in a HT-29 murine xenograft model.

Fluorine-18 labeling of small molecules: the use of 18F-labeled aryl fluorides derived from no-carrier-added [18F]fluoride as labeling precursors

The favourable long-half life, the ease of production and the low energy of the emitted positron make 18F an ideal radionuclide for PET imaging. Radiochemistry of 18F basically relies on two distinctive types of reactions: nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions. All syntheses of 18F-labeled radiotracers are based on either [18F]fluoride ion or [18F]fluorine gas as simple primary labeling precursors which are obtained directly from the cyclotron. They can be applied either directly to the radiosynthesis or they can be transformed into more complex labeling precursors enabling the multi-step build-up of organic tracer molecules. The topic of this review is a survey on the application of several 18F-labeled aryl fluorides as building blocks derived from no-carrier-added (n.c.a.) [18F] fluoride to build up small monomeric PET radiotracers at high specific radioactivity by multi-step synthesis procedures.

Small animal positron emission tomography in food sciences

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a 3-dimensional imaging technique that has undergone tremendous developments during the last decade. Non-invasive tracing of molecular pathways in vivo is the key capability of PET. It has become an important tool in the diagnosis of human diseases as well as in biomedical and pharmaceutical research. In contrast to other imaging modalities, radiotracer concentrations can be determined quantitatively. By application of appropriate tracer kinetic models, the rate constants of numerous different biological processes can be determined. Rapid progress in PET radiochemistry has significantly increased the number of biologically important molecules labelled with PET nuclides to target a broader range of physiologic, metabolic, and molecular pathways. Progress in PET physics and technology strongly contributed to better scanners and image processing. In this context, dedicated high resolution scanners for dynamic PET studies in small laboratory animals are now available. These developments represent the driving force for the expansion of PET methodology into new areas of life sciences including food sciences. Small animal PET has a high potential to depict physiologic processes like absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination and interactions of biologically significant substances, including nutrients, 'nutriceuticals', functional food ingredients, and foodborne toxicants. Based on present data, potential applications of small animal PET in food sciences are discussed.

Synthesis and biodistribution of an 18F-labelled resveratrol derivative for small animal positron emission tomography

Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a naturally occurring phytoalexin and polyphenol existing in grapes and various other plants, and one of the best known 'nutriceuticals'. It shows a multiplicity of beneficial biological effects, particularly, by attenuating atherogenic, inflammatory, and carcinogenic processes. However, despite convincing evidence from experimental and clinical studies, data concerning the role of resveratrol and other members of the large polyphenols family for human health is still a matter of debate. One reason for this is the lack of suitable sensitive and specific methods, which would allow direct assessment of biodistribution, biokinetics, and the metabolic fate of these compounds in vivo. The unique features of positron emission tomography (PET) as a non-invasive in vivo imaging methodology in combination with suitable PET radiotracers have great promise to assess quantitative information on physiological effects of polyphenols in vivo. Herein we describe the radiosynthesis of an (18)F-labelled resveratrol derivative, 3,5-dihydroxy-4'-[(18)F]fluoro-trans-stilbene ([(18)F]-1), using the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction as a novel radiolabelling technique in PET radiochemistry for subsequent functional imaging of polyphenol metabolism in vivo. In a typical "three-step/one-pot" reaction, (18)F-labelled resveratrol derivative [(18)F]-1 could be synthesized within 120-130 min including HPLC separation at a specific radioactivity of about 90 GBq/mumol. The radiochemical yield was about 9% (decay-corrected) related to [(18)F]fluoride and the radiochemical purity exceeded 97%. First radiopharmacological evaluation included measurement of biodistribution ex vivo and positron emission tomography (PET) studies in vivo after intravenous application of [(18)F]-1 in male Wistar rats using a dedicated small animal PET camera with very high spatial resolution. Concordantly with data on bioavailability and metabolism of native resveratrol from the literature, these investigations revealed an extensive uptake and metabolism in the liver and kidney, respectively, of [(18)F]-1. This study represents the first investigation of polyphenols in vivo by means of PET.