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Hyperpolarization is an emerging method that dramatically enhances NMR signal intensity. As a result of their increased sensitivity, hyperpolarized (HP) NMR molecular probes can be used to perform time-resolved spectroscopy and imaging in vitro and in vivo. It is, however, challenging to design such probes de novo. Herein, the [1-13C]α-amino acid is reported as a scaffold structure to design HP 13C NMR molecular probes. The [1-13C]α-amino acid can be converted to various HP 13C chemical probes that show sufficient chemical shift change by altering the chemical state of the α nitrogen upon interaction with the target. Several previously reported HP probes could be explained by this design principle. To demonstrate the versatility of this approach, two α-amino-acid-based HP 13C chemical probes, sensitive to pH and Ca2+ ion, were developed and used to detect targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) enzyme plays a central role in glutathione homeostasis. Direct detection of GGT activity could provide critical information for the diagnosis of several pathologies. We propose a new molecular probe, γ-Glu-[1-13C]Gly, for monitoring GGT activity in vivo by hyperpolarized (HP) 13C magnetic resonance (MR). The properties of γ-Glu-[1-13C]Gly are suitable for in vivo HP 13C metabolic analysis since the chemical shift between γ-Glu-[1-13C]Gly and its metabolic product, [1-13C]Gly, is large (4.3 ppm) and the T1 of both compounds is relatively long (30 s and 45 s, respectively, in H2O at 9.4 T). We also demonstrate that γ-Glu-[1-13C]Gly is highly sensitive to in vivo modulation of GGT activity induced by the inhibitor acivicin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]