Rational Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Progesterone-Modified MRI Contrast Agents

SummaryA series of contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) aimed at noninvasively determining the hormone receptor status of cancer in vitro was developed. These MRI contrast agents were prepared by conjugating progesterone to clinically used Gd(III) chelates. These agents exhibited higher progesterone receptor binding affinities in the nanomolar range and intracellular accumulation. High logP values of the modified compounds suggested that the lipophilicity of the steroid conjugates may have contributed to membrane permeability. Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence microscopy and magnetic resonance images revealed that the synthesized conjugates showed the greatest cellular accumulation and significant increase in relaxivity in vitro compared to the previously developed steroid-modified agent. Transcriptional assays using the progesterone response element linked to luciferase indicated that the contrast agents entered the cell, interacted with the biological target, and drove specific progesterone-mediated transcription

X-Ray Fluorescence Microscopy Demonstrates Preferential Accumulation of a Vanadium-Based Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent in Murine Colonic Tumors

Contrast agents that specifically enhance cancers on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will allow earlier detection. Vanadium-based chelates (VCs) selectively enhance rodent cancers on MRI, suggesting selective uptake of VCs by cancers. Here we report x-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) of VC uptake by murine colon cancer. Colonic tumors in mice treated with azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium were identified by MRI. Then a gadolinium-based contrast agent and a VC were injected intravenously; mice were sacrificed and colons sectioned. VC distribution was sampled at 120 minutes after injection to evaluate the long-term accumulation. Gadolinium distribution was sampled at 10 minutes after injection due to its rapid washout. XFM was performed on 72 regions of normal and cancerous colon from five normal mice and four cancer-bearing mice. XFM showed that all gadolinium was extracellular, with similar concentrations in colon cancers and normal colon. In contrast, the average VC concentration was twofold higher in cancers versus normal tissue ( p < .002). Cancers also contained numerous “hot spots” with intracellular VC concentrations sixfold higher than the concentration in normal colon ( p < .0001). No hot spots were detected in normal colon. This is the first direct demonstration that VCs selectively accumulate in cancer cells and thus may improve cancer detection