Novel Molecular Platform Integrated Iron Chelation Therapy for ¹H‑MRI Detection of β‑Galactosidase Activity

Abstract

Targeting the increased Fe³⁺ content in tumors, we propose a novel molecular platform integrated cancer iron chelation therapy for ¹H-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detection of β-galactosidase (β-gal) activity. Following this idea, we have designed, synthesized, and characterized a series of β-d-galactosides conjugated with various chelators and demonstrated the feasibility of this concept for assessing β-gal activity in solution by ¹H-MRI <i>T</i>₁ and <i>T</i>₂ relaxation mapping