Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Carbon-11 Labeled Oxopurine Analogues for Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Translocator Protein (18 kDa) in Peripheral Organs

To develop a PET ligand for imaging TSPO in peripheral organs, we designed three novel oxopurine analogues [11C]3a–c (LogD: 1.81–2.17) by introducing a pyridine ring in place of a benzene ring in the lead compound [11C]2 (LogD: 3.48). The desmethyl precursors 10 for radiosynthesis were synthesized by reacting glycine 7 with picolylamines 4, followed by hydrolysis and by Curtius rearrangement with diphenylphosphoryl azide. Methylation of 10a–c with methyl iodide produced unlabeled compounds 3a–c. The radiosynthesis of [11C]3a–c was performed by reacting 10a–c with [11C]methyl iodide. Compounds 3a–c displayed high or moderate in vitro binding affinities (Ki: 5–40 nM) for TSPO. PET with [11C]3a–c in rats showed high uptake in the lung, heart, and kidney, which are organs with high TSPO expression. Metabolite analysis with [11C]3a showed that radioactivity in these organs mainly corresponded with unchanged [11C]3a. PET with [11C]3a using a rat model of lung inflammation showed a significant signal in the lipo...