1. Caspase-3 Substrates for Noninvasive Pharmacodynamic Imaging of Apoptosis by PET/CT
- Author
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Engel, Brian J., Gammon, Seth T., Chaudhari, Rajan, Lu, Zhen, Pisaneschi, Federica, Yang, Hailing, Ornelas, Argentina, Yan, Victoria, Kelderhouse, Lindsay, Najjar, Amer M., Tong, William P., Zhang, Shuxing, Piwnica-Worms, David, Bast, Robert C., and Millward, Steven W.
- Abstract
Quantitative imaging of apoptosis in vivocould enable real-time monitoring of acute cell death pathologies such as traumatic brain injury, as well as the efficacy and safety of cancer therapy. Here, we describe the development and validation of F-18-labeled caspase-3 substrates for PET/CT imaging of apoptosis. Preliminary studies identified the O-benzylthreonine-containing substrate 2MP-TbD-AFC as a highly caspase 3-selective and cell-permeable fluorescent reporter. This lead compound was converted into the radiotracer [18F]-TBD, which was obtained at 10% decay-corrected yields with molar activities up to 149 GBq/μmol on an automated radiosynthesis platform. [18F]-TBD accumulated in ovarian cancer cells in a caspase- and cisplatin-dependent fashion. PET imaging of a Jo2-induced hepatotoxicity model showed a significant increase in [18F]-TBD signal in the livers of Jo2-treated mice compared to controls, driven through a reduction in hepatobiliary clearance. A chemical control tracer that could not be cleaved by caspase 3 showed no change in liver accumulation after induction of hepatocyte apoptosis. Our data demonstrate that [18F]-TBD provides an immediate pharmacodynamic readout of liver apoptosis in mice by dynamic PET/CT and suggest that [18F]-TBD could be used to interrogate apoptosis in other disease states.
- Published
- 2018
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