Radiosynthesis and Evaluation of Cyclohexyl (5-(2-[11C-Carbonyl]acetamidobenzo[d]thiazol-6-yl)-2-Methylpyridin-3-yl)Carbamate ([11C]PK68) As a New Radioligand For Imaging Receptor-Interacting Protein 1 Kinase
Abstract Background: Receptor-interacting protein 1 kinase (RIPK1) is a key enzyme in the regulation of cellular necroptosis. Recently, cyclohexyl (5-(2-acetamidobenzo[d]thiazol-6-yl)-2-methylpyridin-3-yl)carbamate (PK68, 5) has been developed as a potent inhibitor of RIPK1. Herein, we radiosynthesized [11C]PK68 as a new positron emission tomography (PET) ligand for imaging RIPK1 and evaluated its potential in vivo.Results: We synthesized [11C]PK68 by reacting amine precursor 14 with [11C]acetyl chloride. At the end of synthesis, we obtained [11C]PK68 of 1200–1790 MBq (n = 10) with >99% radiochemical purity and a molar activity of 37–99 GBq/μmol starting from 18–33 GBq of [11C]CO2. The fully automated synthesis took 30 min from the end of irradiation. In a small-animal PET study, [11C]PK68 was rapidly distributed in the liver and kidneys of healthy mice after injection, and was subsequently cleared from their bodies via hepatobiliary excretion and the intestinal reuptake pathway. Although there was no obvious specific binding of RIPK1 in the PET study, [11C]PK68 demonstrated relatively high stability in vivo, and may be used as a lead compound for further candidate development.Conclusions: In the present study, we successfully radiosynthesized [11C]PK68 and evaluated its potential in vivo. We are planning to optimize the chemical structure of [11C]PK68 and conduct further PET studies on it using pathological models.