Angewandte
Chemie
to follow the reaction. Our idea was that in a reaction mixture
with Xe, its gradual displacement from the host as the
enzymatic reaction progresses could be followed by overall
changes of Xe saturation transfer spectra from the Xe–host
complex (Figure 1).
To demonstrate the transferability of supramolecular
enzyme assays to MRI, we first chose the strongly Xe-binding
homologue CB6 as the contrast agent and lysine decarbox-
ylase (LDC) as the enzyme. LDC converts the weakly binding
substrate l-lysine (Lys) into the strongly binding product
cadaverine (Cad) and has a key role in tumor growth and
inflammatory processes.[10]
As an initial control and for comparison with the Xe NMR
studies, we developed a fluorescent assay with CB6 and LDC
using a putrescine derivative of 1-aminonaphthalene-5-sul-
fonic acid as fluorescent dye, which responds to CB6 binding
with an increase in fluorescence.[11] The binding constant was
determined by fluorescence titration as (4 Æ 1) 104 mÀ1 in the
NH4OAc buffer (Figure SI-1), which lies between 4.3 107 mÀ1
in 1 mm HCl (pH 3.0) and 2.5 103 mÀ1 in 50 mm NaOAc
(pH 5.5).[11] The higher binding constant in 1 mm HCl results
most likely from an increased protonation of the dye in the
more acidic solution and binding in 50 mm NaOAc is lower
because of the competitive binding of Na+ to CB6.
The binding constant of Cad to CB6 (109 to 1010 mÀ1 [9e] is
)
clearly higher, and the binding of Lys is too weak to efficiently
compete with the dye at relevant concentrations (Figure SI-
2). Consequently, dye displacement and fluorescence
decrease were expected upon progress of the enzymatic
reaction, which was in fact observed (Figure SI-3). The
fluorescence traces gave a turnover number of 74 nmol
minÀ1 mgÀ1 at 258C and 300 mm Lys. These fluorescence
results 1) demonstrate the principle feasibility of the enzyme
assay under these conditions, 2) exclude potential undesirable
interactions between CB6 and the enzyme, and 3) ensure that
the enzymatic reaction completes within an acceptable time
to be detected by Xe NMR spectroscopy.
Figure 2. a) Details and overview (inset) of Hyper-CEST spectra (Xe
gas as d=0 ppm reference). Details: only CB6 (dark red), with
15 mgmLÀ1 LDC (light blue), with LDC and 100 mm Lys (dark blue),
with 50 mm Cad (pink), and with 100 mm Lys (yellow). Saturation
parameters: B1 =16 mT, tsat =4 s. b)–e) Hyper-CEST MRI (on-resonant
(b) and off-resonant saturation (c), Hyper-CEST effect (d), and two-
compartment setup (e)). In addition to Lys, 15 mgmLÀ1 LDC was
present only in the inner compartment, which reduced its Hyper-CEST
effect (d) significantly. Conditions: 20 mm CB6, 10 mm NH4OAc, 258C,
[Xe]ꢀ975 mm. No. of averages: 6. Total acquisition time: ca. 4.6 min.
Next, we explored the reporter system with hyperpolar-
ized Xe NMR spectroscopy and MRI. The Hyper-CEST
spectrum of CB6 (Figure 2) displayed resonances at d =
193 ppm ascribed to direct saturation of free dissolved Xe,
and at d = 105 ppm originating from saturation transfer via
Xe encapsulated in CB6,[12] demonstrating that the exchange
kinetics of Xe are compatible with Hyper-CEST.[7] After
addition of LDC to the mixture containing only CB6, the
Xe@CB6 resonance remained unchanged, indicating no
undesirable interaction of CB6 or Xe with the enzyme in
line with the fluorescence results. The Xe@CB6 resonance
vanished completely after addition of 100 mm Lys and
incubation for 30 min. This is due to decarboxylation of Lys
by LDC producing strongly binding Cad, which efficiently
suppresses the saturation transfer by occupying the CB6
cavity. This was also observed when Cad was added to
a solution containing CB6 only. Another control, in which Lys
was added to a CB6-containing solution, showed a small
response, in which the CEST signal became slightly smaller
and shifted to lower ppm values. This is likely due to weak
binding of Lys as also observed by fluorescence (Figure SI-2).
These results clearly show the applicability of Hyper-CEST to
detect enzyme activity through competitive macrocycle
occupation and allow Hyper-CEST MRI in solution, where
only the area not containing LDC displayed a high Hyper-
CEST effect (Figures 2d and SI-4).
When we attempted to transfer this approach to cell
lysates, no clearly resolved Xe@CB6 resonance was observed
at 20 mm CB6, but the CEST response at d = 193 ppm was
significantly broadened as previously observed in blood
plasma (Figure SI-6).[7a] This is attributed to two factors:
1) CB6 is partially occupied by more competitive guests and
2) Xe now additionally interacts with other potential binding
partners, for example, proteins and lipids, with a mutual
influence on the exchange kinetics causing line broadening
per se,[4i] such that it becomes impractical to detect the
presence of CB6 by saturating at d = 105 ppm (Figure SI-6).
As a modified strategy, application of saturation pulses
slightly off-resonant from an exchange-broadened bulk signal
1
is, however, a well-established method in H NMR spectros-
copy called magnetization transfer (MT)[13] and has been
used, for example, to follow myelination of neuronal cells in
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 13444 –13447
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