Lee, T.; Zhang, X. -an; Dhar, S.; Faas, H.; Lippard, S. J.; Jasanoff, A. In Vivo Imaging with a Cell-Permeable Porphyrin-Based MRI Contrast Agent.
Chemistry & Biology (Cambridge, MA, United States) 2010,
17, 665-673.
Abstract
Summary: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with mol. probes offers the potential to monitor physiol. parameters with comparatively high spatial and temporal resoln. in living subjects. For detection of intracellular analytes, construction of cell-permeable imaging agents remains a challenge. Here we show that a porphyrin-based MRI mol. imaging agent, Mn-(DPA-C2)2-TPPS3, effectively penetrates cells and persistently stains living brain tissue in intracranially injected rats. Chromogenicity of the probe permitted direct visualization of its distribution by histol., in addn. to MRI. Distribution was concd. in cell bodies after hippocampal infusion. Mn-(DPA-C2)2-TPPS3 was designed to sense zinc ions, and contrast enhancement was more pronounced in the hippocampus, a zinc-rich brain region, than in the caudate nucleus, which contains relatively little labile Zn2+. Membrane permeability, optical activity, and high relaxivity of porphyrin-based contrast agents offer exceptional functionality for in vivo imaging. [on SciFinder(R)]