Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

A new study from Dr. Benjamin Rotstein’s lab at the University of Ottawa has unveiled a new  method to prepare isotope-labeled versions of drugs and diagnostics for use in preclinical and clinical research

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

They developed a method to exchange a single atom in amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—to replace it with its heavy isotope, using an elaborate process that requires intense laser light

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

Drug development” means that you need to figure out how much drug to put in a person. In order to do that, you have to study what happens when that drug is put in people

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

Rotstein, an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry, started out with their experiments working like a catalyst

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

They used vitamin B-6 to remove the carboxylic acid from amino acids, and they found it worked like a catalyst

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

he said they were going to run it in reverse, but it turned out that the mechanism was a little different than they initially expected.

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

The research was done in collaboration with university colleagues and chemists at Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical company

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

Dr. Rotstein’s lab did the carbon-11 studies and worked with these collaborators to uncover the mechanism of the reaction

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

Scientists use radioactive carbon-11 to create a map of the brain in a patient’s brain during a PET scan

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

Dr. Rotstein and his team are studying how to make the reaction produce only one “mirror image” version of amino acids so that researchers will no longer need to separate out the mirror images

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

A recent study found that a substance called 11-aminoacids-glucose is a better indicator of diabetes than traditional tests

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

We’re also using these in imaging studies now to learn about metabolism and protein synthesis rates in different tissues,” says Dr

Study reveals new method of preparing imaging agents

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