Albert P. Chen1, Ralph E. Hurd2, David M. Wilson3, Graham Wright4, Charles H. Cunningham4
1GE Healthcare, Toronto, ON, Canada; 2GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, USA; 3Radiology, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA; 4Sunnybrook Health sciences centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Utilizing dynamic nuclear polarization techniques, a 13C MRI reporter probe system based on hyperpolarized [1-13C] N-acetyl-methionine and acylase I enzyme was developed. De-acetylation of the hyperpolarized substrate by the enzyme was observed with high temporal or spatial resolution in In vitro dynamic MRS and 2D CSI data. In vivo 3D CSI data acquired from normal rats following injection of hyperpolarized [1-13C] N-acetyl-methionine demonstrated no observable metabolic product, suggesting the potential of this reporter system for target MR imaging in vivo.