A new horizon of DNP technology: application to in-vivo 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is an emerging technique for increasing the sensitivity (>10,000-fold) of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging (MRSI), in particularly for low-γ nuclei. DNP methodology is based on polarizing nuclear spins in an amorphous solid state at low temperature (ca. 1 K) through coupling of the nuclear spins with unpaired electron spins that are added to the sample via an organic free radical. In an amorphous solid state, the high electron spin polarization can be transferred to the nuclear spins by microwave irradiation. While this technique has been utilized in solid-state research for many years, it is only recently that dissolution methods and the required hardware have been developed to produce the high nuclear polarization provided by DNP to produce injectable hyperpolarized solutions suitable for in vivo studies. It has been applied to a number of 13C-labeled cell metabolites in biological systems and their real-time metabolic conversion has been imaged. This review focuses the DNP methodology briefly and the significant molecules investigated to date in preclinical cancer models, in terms of their downstream metabolism in vivo or the biological processes that they can probe. In particular, conversion between hyperpolarized 13C-labeled pyruvate and lactate, catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase, has been shown to have a number of potential applications such as diagnosis, staging tumor grade and monitoring therapy response. Strategies for making this technique more viable to use in clinical settings has been discussed.