PET Imaging of GPR44 by Antagonist [11C]MK-7246 in Pigs.
Pierre CheungBo ZhangEmmi PuuvuoriSergio EstradaMohammad A AminSofie YeOlle KorsgrenLuke R OdellJonas ErikssonOlof ErikssonPublished in: Biomedicines (2021)
A validated imaging marker for beta-cell mass would improve understanding of diabetes etiology and enable new strategies in therapy development. We previously identified the membrane-spanning protein GPR44 as highly expressed and specific to the beta cells of the pancreas. The selective GPR44 antagonist MK-7246 was radiolabeled with carbon-11 and the resulting positron-emission tomography (PET) tracer [11C]MK-7246 was evaluated in a pig model and in vitro cell lines. The [11C]MK-7246 compound demonstrated mainly hepatobiliary excretion with a clearly defined pancreas, no spillover from adjacent tissues, and pancreatic binding similar in magnitude to the previously evaluated GPR44 radioligand [11C]AZ12204657. The binding could be blocked by preadministration of nonradioactive MK-7246, indicating a receptor-binding mechanism. [11C]MK-7246 showed strong potential as a PET ligand candidate for visualization of beta-cell mass (BCM) and clinical translation of this methodology is ongoing.
Keyphrases
- positron emission tomography
- pet imaging
- computed tomography
- fatty acid
- pet ct
- single cell
- binding protein
- cell therapy
- type diabetes
- cardiovascular disease
- gene expression
- risk assessment
- high resolution
- stem cells
- induced apoptosis
- amino acid
- insulin resistance
- skeletal muscle
- metabolic syndrome
- cell cycle arrest
- climate change
- fluorescence imaging
- weight loss
- small molecule
- human health
- glycemic control
- cell proliferation
- cell death