Smart, enzyme-activated MRI contrast agents for cancer detection

描述（由申请人提供）：早期发现是根除大多数疾病的关键，尤其是癌症。磁共振成像（MRI）是一种强大的、无创的检测体内异常组织的方法。然而，目前临床批准的造影剂对癌细胞缺乏特异性，弛豫效率低下，并且可能具有细胞毒性。我们建议

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Early detection is key to eradicating most diseases, especially cancers. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a powerful, noninvasive method to detect aberrant tissues within the body. Current clinically approved contrast agents, however, lack specificity for cancer cells, undergo inefficient relaxivity, and can be cytotoxic. We propose a new class of "smart" MRI agents that become activated selectively at cancer sites. For this proposal, the MRI agents will be turned "on" through selective enzymatic hydrolysis via cathepsin B, an enzyme that is overexpressed by many cancer cells. Not only will this method greatly enhance the intensity of the signal at cancerous over healthy cells and tissues, but the proposed agents should be less toxic and demonstrate greater relaxivity as compared to traditional Gd3+ based MRI agents. Furthermore, the proposed agents could enter cells in an energy independent process to give smart MRI agents that operate within cells. Future applications include equipping the MRI agents with targeting agents for greater cell/tissue selectivity. To detect cancers that do not overexpress suitable enzymes, different types of switches will be attached that will respond to redox chemistry or changes in pH. The specific aims of this proposal are to create MRI agents, which can be optimized in the "off" and "on" modes, test their response to cathepsin B, measure their relaxivity values, and to determine their toxicities in cells and mice. The long-term goal is to provide researchers and the medical community tailor made smart MRI agents to advance the study of cellular functions and provide early detection of diseases, such as cancer. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: MRI is a widely used imaging tool to detect cancers at early stages within the body. Combining "smart" MRI agents that light up selectively at diseased tissues would greatly advance MRI, saving lives, reducing costs, and reducing debilitation. Presented in this proposal is a new class of smart MRI agents that turn on at sites that over express cathepsin B, a biomarker of several cancers. The long-term goal is to construct smart MRI agents that detect the unique features of cancers, such as enzyme expression, hypoxia, and acidic pH.