Transfer of fluorinase mediated C-18F bond formation technology to the clinical environment for tumor imaging by PET

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Several years ago the St Andrews laboratory isolated a very unusual enzyme in that it had the ability to form carbon-fluorine bonds from inorganic fluoride ion. This enzyme was isolated and the gene identified and over-expressed in E.coli. The enzyme has emerged as an extremely useful catalyst for incorporating the isotope F-18 into an organic molecule. Using other enzymes in combination with the fluorinase enzyme the St Andrews laboratory have been able to make several novel fluorine-18 labelled products in time scales (1-2 hours) suitable for exploring the products as imaging agents, by positron emission tomography. We have begun to collaborate with the Aberdeen lab and have some preliminary data which shows that one of these molecules is actively transported into breast cancer cells, and also that one of these compounds can suitably image a rat. This Discipline Hopping grant will give us the opportunity to combine the expertise of the labs and establish if the fluorinase mediated catalysis of 18F-C bonds can be transferred into a clinical hot laboratory environment, and to establish if some of the molecules that can be prepared enzymatically have potential as imaging agents for cancer (oncology) and/ imaging the brain (neurology).