scholarly journals Development of 18F-Labeled Radiotracers for PET Imaging of the Adenosine A2A Receptor: Synthesis, Radiolabeling and Preliminary Biological Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2285
Author(s):  
Thu Hang Lai ◽  
Susann Schröder ◽  
Magali Toussaint ◽  
Sladjana Dukić-Stefanović ◽  
Mathias Kranz ◽  
...  

The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) represents a potential therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases. Aiming at the development of a positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer to monitor changes of receptor density and/or occupancy during the A2AR-tailored therapy, we designed a library of fluorinated analogs based on a recently published lead compound (PPY). Among those, the highly affine 4-fluorobenzyl derivate (PPY1; Ki(hA2AR) = 5.3 nM) and the 2-fluorobenzyl derivate (PPY2; Ki(hA2AR) = 2.1 nM) were chosen for 18F-labeling via an alcohol-enhanced copper-mediated procedure starting from the corresponding boronic acid pinacol ester precursors. Investigations of the metabolic stability of [18F]PPY1 and [18F]PPY2 in CD-1 mice by radio-HPLC analysis revealed parent fractions of more than 76% of total activity in the brain. Specific binding of [18F]PPY2 on mice brain slices was demonstrated by in vitro autoradiography. In vivo PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in CD-1 mice revealed a reasonable high initial brain uptake for both radiotracers, followed by a fast clearance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1182
Author(s):  
Thu Hang Lai ◽  
Magali Toussaint ◽  
Rodrigo Teodoro ◽  
Sladjana Dukić-Stefanović ◽  
Mathias Kranz ◽  
...  

The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) has emerged as a potential non-dopaminergic target for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and, thus, the non-invasive imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) is of utmost importance to monitor the receptor expression and occupancy during an A2AR-tailored therapy. Aiming at the development of a PET radiotracer, we herein report the design of a series of novel fluorinated analogs (TOZ1-TOZ7) based on the structure of the A2AR antagonist tozadenant, and the preclinical evaluation of [18F]TOZ1. Autoradiography proved A2AR-specific in vitro binding of [18F]TOZ1 to striatum of mouse and pig brain. Investigations of the metabolic stability in mice revealed parent fractions of more than 76% and 92% of total activity in plasma and brain samples, respectively. Dynamic PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in mice revealed a brain uptake but no A2AR-specific in vivo binding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Friedman ◽  
Carmen Corciulo ◽  
Cristina M. Castro ◽  
Bruce N. Cronstein

AbstractAutophagy, a homeostatic pathway upregulated during cellular stress, is decreased in osteoarthritic chondrocytes and this reduction in autophagy is thought to contribute to the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) is a potent anti-inflammatory receptor and deficiency of this receptor leads to the development of OA in mice. Moreover, treatment using liposomally conjugated adenosine or a specific A2AR agonist improved joint scores significantly in both rats with post-traumatic OA (PTOA) and mice subjected to a high fat diet obesity induced OA. Importantly, A2AR ligation is beneficial for mitochondrial health and metabolism in vitro in primary and the TC28a2 human cell line. An additional set of metabolic, stress-responsive, and homeostatic mediators include the Forkhead box O transcription factors (FoxOs). Data has shown that mouse FoxO knockouts develop early OA with reduced cartilage autophagy, indicating that FoxO-induced homeostasis is important for articular cartilage. Given the apparent similarities between A2AR and FoxO signaling, we tested the hypothesis that A2AR stimulation improves cartilage function through activation of the FoxO proteins leading to increased autophagy in chondrocytes. We analyzed the signaling pathway in the human TC28a2 cell line and corroborated these findings in vivo in a metabolically relevant obesity-induced OA mouse model. We found that A2AR stimulation increases activation and nuclear localization of FoxO1 and FoxO3, promotes an increase in autophagic flux, improves metabolic function in chondrocytes, and reduces markers of apoptosis in vitro and reduced apoptosis by TUNEL assay in vivo. A2AR ligation additionally enhances in vivo activation of FoxO1 and FoxO3 with evidence of enhanced autophagic flux upon injection of the liposome-associated A2AR agonist in a mouse obesity-induced OA model. These findings offer further evidence that A2AR may be an excellent target for promoting chondrocyte and cartilage homeostasis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Dons-Jensen ◽  
Line Petersen ◽  
Hans-Erik Bøtker ◽  
Toke Bek

Background: The neurotransmitter adenosine has been proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, which may be due to the vasoactive properties of the compound. Previous studies have shown that adenosine can affect the tone of retinal arterioles in vitro to induce dilatation mediated by A2A and A2Breceptors and constriction mediated by A1 and A3 receptors. Purpose: To investigate effects of intravenous administration of the adenosine A2A receptor agonist regadenoson on the diameter of retinal vessels in vivo. Method: The diameter responses of larger retinal arterioles and venules were evaluated using the dynamic vessel analyser in 20 normal persons (age 22–31 years) after intravenous administration of the adenosine A2A receptor agonist regadenoson during exposure to systemic normoxia and hypoxia. Results: The diameter of retinal arterioles and venules increased significantly during stimulation with flickering light (p < 0.0001). Regadenoson reduced the flicker-induced dilatation of venules during normoxia (p = 0.0006), but otherwise had no effect on vessel diameters (p > 0.08 for all comparisons). Conclusions:Intravenous administration of the adenosine A2A receptor agonist regadenoson had no significant effect on the diameter of retinal arterioles. Future studies should investigate differential effects of intra- and extravascular administration of adenosine receptor agonists on retinal vessels.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Alchera ◽  
Chiara Imarisio ◽  
Giorgia Mandili ◽  
Simone Merlin ◽  
Bangalore R. Chandrashekar ◽  
...  

Ischemic preconditioning (IP) of the liver by a brief interruption of the blood flow protects the damage induced by a subsequent ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) preventing parenchymal and nonparenchymal liver cell damage. The discovery of IP has shown the existence of intrinsic systems of cytoprotection whose activation can stave off the progression of irreversible tissue damage. Deciphering the molecular mediators that underlie the cytoprotective effects of preconditioning can pave the way to important therapeutic possibilities. Pharmacological activation of critical mediators of IP would be expected to emulate or even to intensify its salubrious effects.In vitroandin vivostudies have demonstrated the role of the adenosine A2a receptor (A2aR) as a trigger of liver IP. This review will provide insight into the phenotypic changes that underline the resistance to death of liver cells preconditioned by pharmacological activation of A2aR and their implications to develop innovative strategies against liver IR damage.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (22) ◽  
pp. 4149
Author(s):  
Ritawidya ◽  
Wenzel ◽  
Teodoro ◽  
Toussaint ◽  
Kranz ◽  
...  

A specific radioligand for the imaging of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 2A (PDE2A) via positron emission tomography (PET) would be helpful for research on the physiology and disease-related changes in the expression of this enzyme in the brain. In this report, the radiosynthesis of a novel PDE2A radioligand and the subsequent biological evaluation were described. Our prospective compound 1-(2-chloro-5-methoxy phenyl)-8-(2-fluoropyridin-4-yl)-3- methylbenzo[e]imidazo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazine, benzoimidazotriazine (BIT1) (IC50 PDE2A = 3.33 nM; 16-fold selectivity over PDE10A) was fluorine-18 labeled via aromatic nucleophilic substitution of the corresponding nitro precursor using the K[18F]F‐K2.2.2‐carbonate complex system. The new radioligand [18F]BIT1 was obtained with a high radiochemical yield (54 ± 2%, n = 3), a high radiochemical purity (≥99%), and high molar activities (155–175 GBq/μmol, n = 3). In vitro autoradiography on pig brain cryosections exhibited a heterogeneous spatial distribution of [18F]BIT1 corresponding to the known pattern of expression of PDE2A. The investigation of in vivo metabolism of [18F]BIT1 in a mouse revealed sufficient metabolic stability. PET studies in mouse exhibited a moderate brain uptake of [18F]BIT1 with a maximum standardized uptake value of ~0.7 at 5 minutes p.i. However, in vivo blocking studies revealed a non-target specific binding of [18F]BIT1. Therefore, further structural modifications are needed to improve target selectivity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian A. Haanes ◽  
Alejandro Labastida-Ramírez ◽  
Kayi Y. Chan ◽  
René de Vries ◽  
Brian Shook ◽  
...  

Biomolecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongdoo Lim ◽  
Bing Guan ◽  
Kien Nham ◽  
Guiyang Hao ◽  
Xiankai Sun ◽  
...  

Various glutamate urea ligands have displayed high affinities to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which is highly overexpressed in prostate and other cancer sites. The multivalent versions of small PSMA-targeted molecules are known to be even more efficiently bound to the receptor. Here, we employ a well-known urea-based ligand, 2-[3-(1,3-dicarboxypropyl)-ureido] pentanedioic acid (DUPA) and triazine dendrimers in order to study the effect of molecular size on multivalent targeting in prostate cancer. The synthetic route starts with the preparation of a dichlorotriazine bearing DUPA in 67% overall yield over five steps. This dichlorotriazine reacts with G1, G3, and G5 triazine dendrimers bearing a 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) group for 64Cu-labeling at the core to afford poly(monochlorotriazine) intermediates. Addition of 4-aminomethylpiperidine (4-AMP) and the following deprotection produce the target compounds, G1-(DUPA)4, G3-(DUPA)16, and G5-(DUPA)64. These targets include 4/16/64 DUPA groups on the surface and a DOTA group at the core, respectively. In vitro cell assay using PC3-PIP (PSMA positive) and PC3-FLU (PSMA negative) cells reveals that G1-(DUPA)4 has the highest PC3-PIP to PC3-FLU uptake ratio (10-fold) through the PSMA-mediated specific uptake. While G5-(DUPA)64 displayed approximately 12 times higher binding affinity (IC50 23.6 nM) to PC3-PIP cells than G1-(DUPA)4 (IC50 282.3 nM) as evaluated in a competitive binding assay, the G5 dendrimer also showed high non-specific binding to PC3-FLU cells. In vivo uptake of the 64Cu-labeled dendrimers was also evaluated in severe combined inmmunodeficient (SCID) mice bearing PC3-PIP and PC3-FLU xenografts on each shoulder, respectively. Interestingly, quantitative imaging analysis of positron emission tomograph (PET) displayed the lowest tumor uptake in PC3-PIP cells for the midsize dendrimer G3-(DUPA)16 (19.4 kDa) (0.66 ± 0.15%ID/g at 1 h. p.i., 0.64 ± 0.11%ID/g at 4 h. p.i., and 0.67 ± 0.08%ID/g at 24 h. p.i.). Through the specific binding of G1-(DUPA)4 to PSMA, the smallest dendrimer (5.1 kDa) demonstrated the highest PC3-PIP to muscle and PC3-PIP to PC3-FLU uptake ratios (17.7 ± 5.5 and 6.7 ± 3.0 at 4 h p.i., respectively). In addition, the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect appeared to be an overwhelming factor for tumor uptake of the largest dendrimer G5-(DUPA)64 as the uptake was at a similar level irrelevant to the PSMA expression.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1633
Author(s):  
Susann Schröder ◽  
Thu Hang Lai ◽  
Magali Toussaint ◽  
Mathias Kranz ◽  
Alexandra Chovsepian ◽  
...  

The adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) is regarded as a particularly appropriate target for non-dopaminergic treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). An increased A2AR availability has been found in the human striatum at early stages of PD and in patients with PD and dyskinesias. The aim of this small animal positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (PET/MR) imaging study was to investigate whether rotenone-treated mice reflect the aspect of striatal A2AR upregulation in PD. For that purpose, we selected the known A2AR-specific radiotracer [18F]FESCH and developed a simplified two-step one-pot radiosynthesis. PET images showed a high uptake of [18F]FESCH in the mouse striatum. Concomitantly, metabolism studies with [18F]FESCH revealed the presence of a brain-penetrant radiometabolite. In rotenone-treated mice, a slightly higher striatal A2AR binding of [18F]FESCH was found. Nonetheless, the correlation between the increased A2AR levels within the proposed PD animal model remains to be further investigated.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (17) ◽  
pp. 3924
Author(s):  
Falguni Basuli ◽  
Xiang Zhang ◽  
Tim E. Phelps ◽  
Elaine M. Jagoda ◽  
Peter L. Choyke ◽  
...  

The C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor that is overexpressed in numerous diseases, particularly in various cancers and is a powerful chemokine, attracting cells to the bone marrow niche. Therefore, CXCR4 is an attractive target for imaging and therapeutic purposes. The goal of this study is to develop an efficient, reproducible, and straightforward method to prepare a fluorine-18 labeled CXCR4 ligand. 6-[18F]Fluoronicotinic acid-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl ester (6-[18F]FPy-TFP) and nicotinic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (6-[18F]SFPy) have been prepared using ‘fluorination on the Sep-Pak’ method. Conjugation of 6-[18F]SFPy or 6-[18F]FPy-TFP with the alpha-amino group at the N terminus of the protected T140 precursor followed by deprotection, yielded the final product 6-[18F]FPy-T140. The overall radiochemical yields were 6–17% (n = 15, decay-corrected) in a 90-min radiolabeling time with a radiochemical purity >99%. 6-[18F]FPy-T140 exhibited high specific binding and nanomolar affinity for CXCR4 in vitro, indicating that the biological activity of the peptide was preserved. For the first time, [18F]SFPy has been prepared using ‘fluorination on the Sep-Pak’ method that allows rapid automated synthesis of 6-[18F]FPy-T140. In addition to increased synthetic efficiency, this construct binds with CXCR4 in high affinity and may have potential as an in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent. This radiosynthesis method should encourage wider use of this PET agent to quantify CXCR4 in both research and clinical settings.


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