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Webb EW, Cheng K, Winton WP, Klein BJ, Bowden GD, Horikawa M, Liu SW, Wright JS, Verhoog S, Kalyani D, Wismer M, Krska SW, Sanford MS, Scott PJ. Development of High-Throughput Experimentation Approaches for Rapid Radiochemical Exploration. J Am Chem Soc 2024; 146:10581-10590. [PMID: 38580459 PMCID: PMC11099536 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c14822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
Positron emission tomography is a widely used imaging platform for studying physiological processes. Despite the proliferation of modern synthetic methodologies for radiolabeling, the optimization of these reactions still primarily relies on inefficient one-factor-at-a-time approaches. High-throughput experimentation (HTE) has proven to be a powerful approach for optimizing reactions in many areas of chemical synthesis. However, to date, HTE has rarely been applied to radiochemistry. This is largely because of the short lifetime of common radioisotopes, which presents major challenges for efficient parallel reaction setup and analysis using standard equipment and workflows. Herein, we demonstrate an effective HTE workflow and apply it to the optimization of copper-mediated radiofluorination of pharmaceutically relevant boronate ester substrates. The workflow utilizes commercial equipment and allows for rapid analysis of reactions for optimizing reactions, exploring chemical space using pharmaceutically relevant aryl boronates for radiofluorinations, and constructing large radiochemistry data sets.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. William Webb
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Kevin Cheng
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Wade P. Winton
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Brandon J.C. Klein
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Gregory D. Bowden
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Werner Siemens Imaging Center, Department of Preclinical Imaging and Radiopharmacy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Tuebingen 72074, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) “Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies”, Eberhard Karls University, Tuebingen 72074, Germany
| | - Mami Horikawa
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - S. Wendy Liu
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Jay S. Wright
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Stefan Verhoog
- Translational Imaging, Merck and Co., Inc., West Point, PA 19486, United States
| | - Dipannita Kalyani
- Discovery Chemistry, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck and Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 07065, United States
| | - Michael Wismer
- Discovery Chemistry, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck and Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 07065, United States
| | - Shane W. Krska
- Discovery Chemistry, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck and Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 07065, United States
| | - Melanie S. Sanford
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Peter J.H. Scott
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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2
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Mc Veigh M, Bellan LM. Microfluidic synthesis of radiotracers: recent developments and commercialization prospects. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:1226-1243. [PMID: 38165824 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00779k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2024]
Abstract
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful diagnostic tool that holds incredible potential for clinicians to track a wide variety of biological processes using specialized radiotracers. Currently, however, a single radiotracer accounts for over 95% of procedures, largely due to the cost of radiotracer synthesis. Microfluidic platforms provide a solution to this problem by enabling a dose-on-demand pipeline in which a single benchtop platform would synthesize a wide array of radiotracers. In this review, we will explore the field of microfluidic production of radiotracers from early research to current development. Furthermore, the benefits and drawbacks of different microfluidic reactor designs will be analyzed. Lastly, we will discuss the various engineering considerations that must be addressed to create a fully developed, commercially effective platform that can usher the field from research and development to commercialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Mc Veigh
- Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - Leon M Bellan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
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3
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Lu Y, Collins J, Lin KS, van Dam RM. Scalable droplet-based radiosynthesis of [ 18F]fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium cation ([ 18F]FBnTP) via a "numbering up" approach. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:728-737. [PMID: 38240629 PMCID: PMC10869106 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc01068f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
The [18F]fluorobenzyltriphenylphosphonium cation ([18F]FBnTP) has emerged as a highly promising positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) due to its uniform distribution in the myocardium and favorable organ biodistribution demonstrated in preclinical studies. However, a complex and low-efficiency radiosynthesis procedure has significantly hindered its broader preclinical and clinical explorations. Recently, Zhang et al. developed a pinacolyl arylboronate precursor, enabling a one-step synthesis process that greatly streamlines the production of [18F]FBnTP. Building upon this progress, our group successfully adapted the approach to a microdroplet reaction format and demonstrated improved radiosynthesis performance in a preliminary optimization study. However, scaling up to clinical dose amounts was not explored. In this work, we demonstrate that scale-up can be performed in a straightforward manner using a "numbering up" strategy (i.e. performing multiple droplet reactions in parallel and pooling the crude products). The resulting radiochemical yield after purification and formulation was high, up to 66 ± 1% (n = 4) for a set of experiments involving pooling of 4 droplet reactions, accompanied by excellent radiochemical purity (>99%) and molar activity (339-710 GBq μmol-1). Notably, we efficiently achieved sufficient activity yield (0.76-1.84 GBq) for multiple clinical doses from 1.6 to 3.7 GBq of [18F]fluoride in just 37-47 min.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingqing Lu
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Physics and Biology in Medicine Interdepartmental Graduate Program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jeffrey Collins
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kuo-Shyan Lin
- Department of Molecular Oncology, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - R Michael van Dam
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Physics and Biology in Medicine Interdepartmental Graduate Program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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4
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Bowden G, Scott PJH, Boros E. Radiochemistry: A Hot Field with Opportunities for Cool Chemistry. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2023; 9:2183-2195. [PMID: 38161375 PMCID: PMC10755734 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.3c01050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals and concurrent miniaturization of particle accelerators leading to improved access has fueled interest in the development of chemical transformations suitable for short-lived radioactive isotopes on the tracer scale. This recent renaissance of radiochemistry is paired with new opportunities to study fundamental chemical behavior and reactivity of elements to improve their production, separation, and incorporation into bioactive molecules to generate new radiopharmaceuticals. This outlook outlines pertinent challenges in the field of radiochemistry and indicates areas of opportunity for chemical discovery and development, including those of clinically established (C-11, F-18) and experimental radionuclides in preclinical development across the periodic table.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory
D. Bowden
- Department
of Radiology, University of Michigan, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Werner
Siemens Imaging Center, Department of Preclinical Imaging and Radiopharmacy, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, 72074 Tuebingen, Germany
- Cluster
of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) “Image Guided and Functionally
Instructed Tumor Therapies”, Eberhard
Karls University of Tuebingen, 72074 Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Peter J. H. Scott
- Department
of Radiology, University of Michigan, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Eszter Boros
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
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Lu Y, He Y, Schibli R, Mu L, van Dam RM. Proof-of-concept optimization of a copper-mediated 18F-radiosynthesis of a novel MAGL PET tracer on a high-throughput microdroplet platform and its macroscale translation. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:4652-4663. [PMID: 37818614 PMCID: PMC10608794 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00735a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
Copper-mediated radiofluorination has demonstrated remarkable potential in forming aromatic C-18F bonds of radioligands for positron emission tomography (PET). Achieving optimal results often requires optimization efforts, requiring a substantial amount of radiolabeling precursor and time, severely limiting the experimental throughput. Recently, we successfully showcased the feasibility of performing and optimizing Cu-mediated radiosynthesis on a high-throughput microdroplet platform using the well-known and clinically used radioligand [18F]FDOPA as an illustrative example. In our current work, we optimized the Cu-mediated synthesis of a novel monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) PET tracer ([18F]YH149), showing the versatility of droplet-based techniques for early stage tracer development. Across 5 days, we conducted a total of 117 experiments, studying 36 distinct conditions, while utilizing <15 mg of total organoboron precursor. Compared to the original report in which the radiochemical yield (RCY) was 4.4 ± 0.5% (n = 5), the optimized droplet condition provided a substantial improvement in RCY (52 ± 8%, n = 4) and showed excellent radiochemical purity (100%) and molar activity (77-854 GBq μmol-1), using a starting activity of 0.2-1.45 GBq. Furthermore, we showed for the first time a translation of the optimized microscale conditions to a vial-based method. With similar starting activity (0.2-1.44 GBq), the translated synthesis exhibited a comparable RCY of 50 ± 10% (n = 4) while maintaining excellent radiochemical purity (100%) and acceptable molar activity (20-46 GBq μmol-1). The successful translation to vial-based reactions ensures wider applicability of the optimized synthesis by leveraging widely available commercial vial-based synthesis modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingqing Lu
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Physics and Biology in Medicine Interdepartmental Graduate Program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yingfang He
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Roger Schibli
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Linjing Mu
- Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - R Michael van Dam
- Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Physics and Biology in Medicine Interdepartmental Graduate Program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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