Person:

Neelamegam, Ramesh

Temozolomide (TMZ) is a prodrug for an alkylating agent used for the treatment of malignant brain tumors. A positron emitting version, [11C]TMZ, has been utilized to help elucidate the mechanism and biodistribution of TMZ. Challenges in [11C]TMZ synthesis and reformulation make it difficult for routine production. A highly reproducible one-pot radiosynthesis of [11C]TMZ with a radiochemical yield of 17 ± 5% and ≥97% radiochemical purity is reported.

EMPA is a selective antagonist of orexin 2 (OX2) receptors. Previous literature with [3H]-EMPA suggest that it may be used as an imaging agent for OX2 receptors; however, brain penetration is known to be modest. To evaluate the potential of EMPA as a PET radiotracer in non-human primate (as a step to imaging in man), we radiolabeled EMPA with carbon-11. Radiosynthesis of [11C]N-ethyl-2-(N-(6-methoxypyridin-3-yl)-2-methylphenylsulfonamido)-N-(pyridin-3-ylmethyl)acetamide ([11C]EMPA), and evaluation as a potential PET tracer for OX2 receptors is described. Synthesis of an appropriate non-radioactive O-desmethyl precursor was achieved from EMPA with sodium iodide and chlorotrimethylsilane. Selective O-methylation using [11C]CH3I in the presence of cesium carbonate in DMSO at room temp afforded [11C]EMPA in 1.5–2.5% yield (non-decay corrected relative to trapped [11C]CH3I at EOS) with ⩾95% chemical and radiochemical purities. The total synthesis time was 34–36 min from EOB. Studies in rodent suggested that uptake in tissue was dominated by nonspecific binding. However, [11C]EMPA also showed poor uptake in both rats and baboon as measured with PET imaging.

The serotonin 5-HT2c receptor is implicated in a number of diseases including obesity, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. In order to ascribe the role of 5-HT2c in these diseases, a method for measuring 5-HT2c density and function in vivo, such as with positron emission tomography (PET), must be developed. Many high-affinity and relatively selective ligands exist for 5-HT2c but cannot be accessed with current radiosynthetic methods for use as PET radiotracers. We propose that N-methylation of an arylazepine moiety, a frequent structural feature in 5-HT2c ligands, may be a suitable method for producing new radiotracers for 5-HT2c. The impact of N-methylation has not been previously reported. For the agonists that we selected herein, N-methylation was found to increase affinity up to 8-fold without impairing selectivity. Compound 5, an N-methylated azetidine-derived arylazepine, was found to be brain penetrant and reached a brain/blood ratio of 2.05:1. However, our initial test compound was rapidly metabolized within 20 min of administration and exhibited high nonspecific binding. N-Methylation, with 16 ± 3% isolated radiochemical yield (decay corrected), is robust and may facilitate screening other 5-HT2c ligands as radiotracers for PET.

Modulation of histone modifications in the brain may represent a new mechanism for brain disorder therapy. Post-translational modifications of histones regulate gene expression, affecting major cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and function. An important enzyme involved in one of these histone modifications is lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1). This enzyme is flavin-dependent and exhibits homology to amine oxidases. Parnate (2-phenylcyclopropylamine (2-PCPA); tranylcypromine) is a potent inhibitor of monoamine oxidases, and derivatives of 2-PCPA have been used for development of selective LSD1 inhibitors based on the ability to form covalent adducts with flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). Here we report the synthesis and in vitro characterization of LSD1 inhibitors that bond covalently to FAD. The two most potent and selective inhibitors were used to demonstrate brain penetration when administered systemically to rodents. First, radiosynthesis of a positron-emitting analogue was used to obtain preliminary biodistribution data and whole brain time–activity curves. Second, we demonstrate that this series of LSD1 inhibitors is capable of producing a cognitive effect in a mouse model. By using a memory formation paradigm, novel object recognition, we show that LSD1 inhibition can abolish long-term memory formation without affecting short-term memory, providing further evidence for the importance of reversible histone methylation in the function of the nervous system.

The serotonin subtype 2C (5HT({2C})) receptor is an emerging and promising drug target to treat several disorders of the human central nervous system. In this current report, two potent and selective 5HT({2C}) full agonists, WAY-163909 (2) and vabicaserin (3), were radiolabeled with carbon-11 via Pictet–Spengler cyclization with [(^{11})C]formaldehyde and used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Reaction conditions were optimized to exclude the major source of isotope dilution caused by the previously unknown breakdown of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) to formaldehyde at high temperature under mildly acid conditions. In vivo PET imaging was utilized to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and distribution of the carbon-11 labeled 5HT(_{2C}) agonists. Both radiolabeled molecules exhibit high blood–brain barrier (BBB) penetration and nonspecific binding, which was unaltered by preadministration of the unlabeled agonist. Our work demonstrates that Pictet–Spengler cyclization can be used to label drugs with carbon-11 to study their pharmacokinetics and for evaluation as PET radiotracers.

Hydroxamic acid-based histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) are a class of molecules with therapeutic potential currently reflected in the use of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA; Vorinostat) to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). HDACis may have utility beyond cancer therapy, as preclinical studies have ascribed HDAC inhibition as beneficial in areas such as heart disease, diabetes, depression, neurodegeneration, and other disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). However, little is known about the pharmacokinetics (PK) of hydroxamates, particularly with respect to CNS-penetration, distribution, and retention. To explore the rodent and non-human primate (NHP) brain permeability of hydroxamic acid-based HDAC inhibitors using positron emission tomography (PET), we modified the structures of belinostat (PXD101) and panobinostat (LBH-589) to incorporate carbon-11. We also labeled PCI 34051 through carbon isotope substitution. After characterizing the in vitro affinity and efficacy of these compounds across nine recombinant HDAC isoforms spanning Class I and Class II family members, we determined the brain uptake of each inhibitor. Each labeled compound has low uptake in brain tissue when administered intravenously to rodents and NHPs. In rodent studies, we observed that brain accumulation of the radiotracers were unaffected by the pre-administration of unlabeled inhibitors. Knowing that CNS-penetration may be desirable for both imaging applications and therapy, we explored whether a liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method to predict brain penetrance would be an appropriate method to pre-screen compounds (hydroxamic acid-based HDACi) prior to PET radiolabeling. LC-MS-MS data were indeed useful in identifying additional lead molecules to explore as PET imaging agents to visualize HDAC enzymes in vivo. However, HDACi brain penetrance predicted by LC-MS-MS did not strongly correlate with PET imaging results. This underscores the importance of in vivo PET imaging tools in characterizing putative CNS drug lead compounds and the continued need to discover effect PET tracers for neuroepigenetic imaging.