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Opportunities and challenges with hyperpolarized bioresponsive probes for functional imaging using magnetic resonance

Nature Chemistry volume 15, pages 755–763 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The development of hyperpolarized bioresponsive probes for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications is an emerging and rapidly growing topic in chemistry. A wide range of hyperpolarized molecular biosensors for functional MRI have been developed in recent years. These probes comprise many different types of small-molecule reporters that can be hyperpolarized using dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization and parahydrogen-induced polarization or xenon-chelated macromolecular conjugates hyperpolarized using spin-exchange optical pumping. In this Perspective, we discuss how the amplified magnetic resonance signals of these agents are responsive to biologically relevant stimuli such as target proteins, reactive oxygen species, pH or metal ions. We examine how functional MRI using these systems allows a great number of biological processes to be monitored rapidly. Consequently, hyperpolarized bioresponsive probes may play a critical role in functional molecular imaging for observing physiology and pathology in real time.

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Fig. 1: Towards the utilization of hyperpolarized bioresponsive probes for functional molecular imaging with magnetic resonance.
Fig. 2: Bioresponsive agents hyperpolarized using dDNP.
Fig. 3: Bioresponsive hyperCEST 129Xe agents.
Fig. 4: Producing hyperpolarized agents for bioimaging using pH2.

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Acknowledgements

G.A. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (grant no. 2019SHZDZX02) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 22174154 and T2250710181). G.W. gratefully acknowledges financial support from Jiangsu University (grant no. 5501310019), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant no. BK20220528) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 22207046).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroimaging, International Center for Primate Brain Research, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Goran Angelovski

  2. Centre for Hyperpolarisation in Magnetic Resonance, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, UK

    Ben J. Tickner

  3. Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Faculty of Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Ben J. Tickner

  4. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People’s Republic of China

    Gaoji Wang

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G.A. conceived the idea for this Perspective. G.A., B.J.T. and G.W. contributed to discussions and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Goran Angelovski.

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Nature Chemistry thanks George Lu, Mor-Miri Mishkovsky and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Angelovski, G., Tickner, B.J. & Wang, G. Opportunities and challenges with hyperpolarized bioresponsive probes for functional imaging using magnetic resonance. Nat. Chem. 15, 755–763 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01211-3

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