Naoto Shikano

Differences in accumulation and the transport mechanism of l- and d-methionine in high- and low-grade human glioma cells.

INTRODUCTION Although [S-methyl-11C]-labeled L-methionine and D-methionine (11C-L-MET and 11C-D-MET) are useful radiotracers for positron emission tomography imaging of brain tumors, it is not known whether the accumulation and transport mechanisms underlying uptake of 11C-D-MET and 11C-L-MET are the same. 11C-L-MET is mainly taken up by the amino acid transport system L. We evaluated accumulation and the transport mechanism of D-MET in high- and low-grade human glioma cells in vitro. METHODS The expression of transport system genes in high- (A172 and T98G) and low-grade (SW1088 and Hs683) glioma cells was quantitatively analyzed. Accumulation of [S-methyl-3H]-L-MET (3H-L-MET) and [S-methyl-3H]-D-MET (3H-D-MET) in these cells was compared during 60min of incubation. The transport mechanism of 3H-L-MET and 3H-D-MET was investigated by incubating the cells with these compounds and examining the effect of the inhibitors 2-amino-2-norbornane-carboxylic acid or α-(methylamino) isobutyric acid. RESULTS Absolute expression levels of system L and system alanine-serine-cysteine (ASC) in high-grade glioma cells were higher than in low-grade cells. In high-grade glioma cells, expression of system ASC genes was higher than that of system L genes. 3H-D-MET, which is transported by systems L and ASC, accumulated at higher levels than 3H-L-MET at all incubation times because 3H-D-MET is more sensitive to system ASC than 3H-L-MET. Conversely, in low-grade glioma cells with lower expression of system L and ASC, 3H-D-MET accumulated at higher levels than 3H-L-MET in early incubation times because 3H-D-MET may be more sensitive to system ASC than system L. CONCLUSION 3H-D-MET was mainly transported by systems L and ASC and sensitive to system ASC, whereas 3H-L-MET was transported by system L in human glioma cells. In vitro, the accumulation of 3H-D-MET was significantly higher than that of 3H-L-MET during the entire incubation time in high-grade glioma cells, and in early incubation times in low-grade glioma cells.

Pharmacokinetic alteration of(99m)Tc-MAG3 using serum protein binding displacement method

INTRODUCTION When a radiopharmaceutical is simultaneously administered with a medicine that has high affinity for the same plasma protein, the radiopharmaceutical is released at higher concentrations in blood, leading to enhanced transfer into target tissues. This is known as the serum protein binding displacement method. In this study, we investigated the pharmacokinetic alteration of technetium-99m-labeled mercaptoacetylglycylglycylglycine ((99m)Tc-MAG3) using the serum protein binding displacement method. METHODS Rat and human serum protein binding rates of (99m)Tc-MAG3 were measured by ultrafiltration with or without displacers of human serum albumin (HSA) binding sites I and II (200μM and 400μM loading). Male Wistar rats were injected with (99m)Tc-MAG3 (740kBq/0.3mL saline) via the tail vein, and biodistribution was assessed at 2, 5, 10 and 15min. Dynamic whole-body images were obtained for (99m)Tc-MAG3 (11.1MBq/0.3mL saline)-injected rats, with or without HSA displacers. RESULTS (99m)Tc-MAG3 strongly bound to HSA (87.37%±2.13%). Using HSA site I displacers, the free fraction of (99m)Tc-MAG3 increased significantly (1.20 to 1.47 times) when compared with controls. For biodistribution and imaging, rapid blood clearance was observed with bucolome (BCL) loading, which is an HSA site I displacer. With BCL loading, peak times for rat renograms were respectively shifted from 240s to 110s, and from 170s to 120s. CONCLUSIONS We found that (99m)Tc-MAG3 bound to the HSA binding site I. It was confirmed that pharmacokinetic distribution of (99m)Tc-MAG3 is altered by presence of BCL, which leads to increases in the free fraction of (99m)Tc-MAG3, and BCL produced rapid blood clearance and fast peak times on rat renograms. The serum protein binding displacement method using (99m)Tc-MAG3 and BCL, a safe displacer for humans, may be applicable to clinical study and lead to better diagnostic images with shorter waiting times and lower radiation doses for patients.

Development of radioiodine-labeled 4-hydroxyphenylcysteamine for specific diagnosis of malignant melanoma.

INTRODUCTION A specific diagnosis for melanoma is strongly desired because malignant melanoma has poor prognosis. In a previous study, although radioiodine-125-labeled 4-hydroxyphenyl-L-cysteine ((125)I-L-PC) was found to have good substrate affinity for tyrosinase enzyme in the melanin metabolic pathway, (123/131)I-L-PC had insufficient substrate affinity for tyrosinase to diagnose melanoma. In this study, we synthesized 4-hydroxyphenylcysteamine (4-PCA) and developed a novel radioiodine-125-labeled 4-hydroxyphenylcysteamine ((125)I-PCA) to increase affinity for the melanin biosynthesis pathway. METHODS 4-PCA was separated with 2-hydroxyphenylcysteamine (2-PCA), which is an isomer of 4-PCA, and was examined using melting point, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. (125)I-PCA was prepared using the chloramine-T method under no-carrier added conditions. We performed biodistribution experiments using B16 melanoma-bearing mice using (125)I-PCA, (125)I-L-PC, (125)I-α-methyl-L-tyrosine, (123)I-m-iodobenzylguanidine and (67)Ga-citrate. In vitro assay was performed with B16 melanoma cells, and affinity for tyrosinase, DNA polymerase and amino acid transport was evaluated using phenylthiourea, thymidine, ouabine and L-tyrosine inhibitor. In addition, partition coefficients of (125)I-PCA were evaluated. RESULTS In the synthesis of 4-PCA, analysis values did not differ between calculated and reported values, and 4-PCA was separated from 2-PCA at high purity. In biodistribution experiments, (125)I-PCA was accumulated and retained in B16 melanoma cells when compared with (125)I-L-PC. (125)I-PCA showed the highest values at 60 min after radiotracer injection in melanoma-to-muscle ratios, melanoma-to-blood ratios and melanoma-to-skin ratios. Accumulation of (125)I-PCA was significantly inhibited by phenylthiourea and thymidine. Partition coefficients of (125)I-PCA were lower than those of N-isopropyl-p-[(123)I]iodoamphetamine and were not significantly different from (125)I-L-PC. CONCLUSIONS (125)I-PCA is a better substrate for tyrosinase and DNA polymerase and has higher uptake and longer retention in B16 melanoma cells when compared with (125)I-L-PC. Therefore, (123/131)I-PCA has good potential for diagnosis for malignant melanoma. ADVANCE IN KNOWLEDGE (125)I-PCA will be a specific diagnosis tool for malignant melanoma. IMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENT CARE (123/131)I-PCA has good potential for the diagnosis of malignant melanoma when compared with other SPECT tracers, as well as anti-melanoma chemotherapeutic drugs.

Intracellular boron accumulation in CHO-K1 cells using amino acid transport control.

BPA used in BNCT has a similar structure to some essential amino acids and is transported into tumor cells by amino acid transport systems. Previous study groups have tried various techniques of loading BPA to increase intracellular boron concentration. CHO-K1 cells demonstrate system L (LAT1) activity and are suitable for specifying the transport system of a neutral amino acid. In this study, we examined the intracellular accumulation of boron in CHO-K1 cells by amino acid transport control, which involves co-loading with L-type amino acid esters. Intracellular boron accumulation in CHO-K1 cells showed the greatest increased upon co-loading 1.0mM BPA, with 1.0mM l-Tyr-O-Et and incubating for 60min. This increase is caused by activation of a system L amino acid exchanger between BPA and l-Tyr. The amino acid esters are metabolized to amino acids by intracellular hydrolytic enzymes that increase the concentrations of intracellular amino acids and stimulate exchange transportation. We expect that this amino acid transport control will be useful for enhancing intracellular boron accumulation.

Appropriate parameters of the ordered-subset expectation maximization algorithm on measurement of myocardial blood flow and oxygen consumption with 11C-acetate PET.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the appropriate parameters of a filter and of subsets (S) and iterations (I) of the ordered-subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm in 11C-acetate PET. MethodsA Hanning filter (HF) and a Gaussian filter (GF) were selected for filtered back-projection (FBP) and the OSEM algorithm, respectively. After evaluation of the optimal HF size, the GF size was optimized using healthy volunteers (HV). Myocardial blood flow (MBF) and oxygen consumption (kmono) values were calculated by combining 4S, 16S, or 28S with 2I, 4I, 6I, or 8I of the OSEM (MBFOSEM and kmonoOSEM, respectively) in eight HV and eight coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. These MBFOSEM and kmonoOSEM values were compared with those obtained using FBP (MBFFBP and kmonoFBP, respectively). ResultsOptimal HF and GF (10.0GF) sizes for the FBP and OSEM algorithms, respectively, were 10.0 mm full-width resolution at half-maximum. MBFOSEM was changed by modifying the parameters of the OSEM algorithm. The best correlations were between MBFFBP and MBFOSEM, with 28S6I and 10.0GF for HV patients and 28S8I for CAD patients. However, the MBFOSEM with 28S8I was significantly different from MBFFBP at the global myocardium in HV. The kmonoOSEM with 28S6I was not significantly different from kmonoFBP in HV or CAD patients. ConclusionAppropriate parameters are 28S6I with a 10.0GF on the MBFOSEM and kmonoOSEM measurement using 11C-acetate. Diagnostic performance will improve using noiseless, artifact-reduction images, and accurate quantitative values that are provided by the OSEM algorithm with the appropriate parameters.

A strategy for improving FDG accumulation for early detection of metastasis from primary pancreatic cancer: stimulation of the Warburg effect in AsPC-1 cells.

INTRODUCTION Early detection and/or prediction of metastasis provide more prognostic relevance than local recurrence. Direct spread into the peritoneum is frequently found in pancreatic cancer patients, but positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose (FDG) is not useful for identifying such metastasis. We investigated a method to enhance FDG accumulation using AsPC-1 human ascites tumor cells. METHODS (14)C-FDG accumulation was assessed under the following conditions: 1) characteristics of (14)C-FDG transport were examined using phloridzin, a Na(+)-free buffer, and various hexoses, and 2) accumulation of (14)C-FDG was measured in cells that were pretreated with hexose for various time periods, and activity of 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase (PFK-1) was assayed. RESULTS (14)C-FDG transport into AsPC-1 cells was mediated primarily by a Na(+)-independent transport mechanism. Aldohexoses such as d-glucose, D-mannose, and D-galactose inhibited (14)C-FDG transport. Cells pretreated with d-glucose, D-mannose, or D-fructose exhibited augmented (14)C-FDG accumulation. Pretreatment with higher concentrations of D-glucose or D-fructose tended to increase PFK-1 activity. CONCLUSIONS Very little information has been published about the association between PFK-1 and FDG accumulation, and we confirmed the impacts of various hexoses on the activity of PFK-1 and FDG accumulation in AsPC-1 cells. Clarifying the relevance of PFK-1 in FDG accumulation will contribute to developing new features of FDG-PET, because PFK-1 is the main regulator of glycolysis.

In vivo radioactive metabolite analysis for individualized medicine: A basic study of a new method of CYP activity assay using 123I-IMP

INTRODUCTION (123)I-N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine ((123)I-IMP) is metabolized and converted to (123)I-p-iodoamphetamine ((123)I-PIA) by CYP2C19 in humans. Since variations in (123)I-PIA levels reflect variations in CYP2C19 activity, CYP2C19 activity can be estimated by quantitative analysis of (123)I-PIA levels. Thus, (123)I-IMP administration can provide diagnostic information not only regarding cerebral blood flow (rCBF) but also regarding metabolic function. The aim of the present study was to detect variations in CYP activity in mice using metabolite analysis. METHODS Metabolism of (125)I-IMP in pooled homogenates of mouse liver (MLH) was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the presence or absence of NADPH. The amount of (125)I-PIA generated was calculated as the normalized peak area of the chromatogram. Inhibition of (125)I-IMP metabolism was evaluated using the inhibitor SKF-525A. A biodistribution study of (125)I-IMP was performed to determine the organ distribution of (125)I-IMP/(125)I-IMP metabolites and the effect of SKF-525A. Variations in CYP activity in vivo were detected by administration of (123)I-IMP and/or SKF-525A to mice. The liver and the kidney were then excised, homogenized and analyzed using HPLC. RESULTS (125)I-IMP was metabolized by MLH in the presence of NADPH, and the production of (125)I-PIA was inhibited by SKF-525A. SKF-525A did not greatly affect the biodistribution of (125)I-IMP/(125)I-IMP metabolites in vivo. Both (123)I-IMP and (123)I-PIA were detected in organs of control mice. However, (123)I-PIA was not detected in the livers or kidneys of mice treated with SKF-525A. CONCLUSIONS CYP activity in vivo was inhibited by SKF-525A treatment. Variations in CYP activity could be detected in the blood, liver and kidney as changes in the peak area of (123)I-PIA. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENT CARE (123)I-IMP metabolite analysis has the potential to provide beneficial information for prediction of the effect of medicines, in addition to its contribution to more accurate rCBF diagnosis that reflects individual CYP activity.