Photogenerated Radical in Phenylglyoxylic Acid for in Vivo Hyperpolarized 13C MR with Photosensitive Metabolic Substrates

Abstract

Whether for 13C magnetic resonance studies in chemistry, biochemistry or biomedicine, hyperpolarization methods based on dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) have become ubiquitous. DNP requires a source of unpaired electrons, which are commonly added to the sample to be hyperpolarized in the form of stable free radicals. Once polarized, the presence of these radicals is unwanted. These radicals can be replaced by nonpersistent radicals created by photo-irradiation of pyruvic acid (PA), which are annihilated upon dissolution or thermalization in the solid state. However, since PA is readily metabolized by most cells, its presence may be undesirable for some metabolic studies. In addition, some 13C substrates are photo-sensitive and, therefore, may degrade during photo-generation of PA radical, which requires ultraviolet (UV) light. We show here that photoirradiation of phenylglyoxylic acid (PhGA) using visible light produces a non-persistent radical that, in principle, can be used to hyperpolarize any molecule. We compare radical yields in samples containing PA and PhGA upon photo-irradiation with broadband and narrowband UV-visible light sources. To demonstrate the suitability of PhGA as a radical precursor for DNP, we polarized the gluconeogenic probe 13C-dihydroxyacetone, which is UV-sensitive, using a commercial 3.35 T DNP polarizer and then injected this into a mouse and followed its metabolism in vivo.