Development and evaluation of novel PET tracers for imaging cannabinoid receptor type 2 in brain.

The cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) has a very low expression level in brain tissue under basal conditions, but it is up-regulated in diverse pathological conditions. Two promising lead structures from the literature, N-((3S,5S,7S)-adamantan-1-yl)-8-methoxy-4-oxo-1-pentyl-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamide and 8-butoxy-N-(2-fluoro-2-phenylethyl)-7-methoxy-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamide - designated KD2 and KP23, respectively - were evaluated as potential PET ligands for imaging CB2. Both KD2 and KP23 were synthesized and labeled with carbon-11. In vitro autoradiographic studies on rodent spleen tissues showed that [(11)C]KD2 exhibits superior properties. A pilot study using [(11)C]KD2 on human post mortem ALS spinal cord slices indicated high CB2 expression level and specific binding, a very exciting finding if considering the future diagnostic application of CB2 ligands and their utility in therapy monitoring. In vivo blocking studies in rats with [(11)C]KD2 showed also high specific uptake in spleen tissue. Although the protein-bound fraction is relatively high, KD2 or KD2 derivatives could be very useful tools for the non-invasive investigation of CB2 levels under various neuroinflammatory conditions.

Radiolabeling and in vitro /in vivo evaluation of N-(1-adamantyl)-8-methoxy-4-oxo-1-phenyl-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamide as a PET probe for imaging cannabinoid type 2 receptor.

The cannabinoid type 2 (CB2) receptor plays an important role in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease and is therefore a very promising target for therapeutic approaches as well as for imaging. Based on the literature, we identified one 4-oxoquinoline derivative(designated KD2) as the lead structure. It was synthesized, radiolabeled and evaluated as a potential imaging tracer for CB2. [11C]KD2 was obtained in 99% radiochemical purity.Moderate blood­brain barrier (BBB) passage was predicted for KD2 from an in vitro transport assay with P-glycoprotein-transfected Madin Darby canine kidney cells. No efflux of KD2 by P-glycoprotein was detected. In vitro autoradiography of rat and mouse spleen slices demonstrated that [11C]KD2 exhibits high specific binding towards CB2. High spleen uptake of [11C]KD2 was observed in dynamic positron emission tomography(PET) studies with Wistar rats and its specificity was confirmed by displacement study with a selective CB2 agonist, GW405833. A pilot autoradiography study with post-mortem spinal cord slices from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)patients with [11C]KD2 suggested the presence of CB2 receptors under disease conditions. Specificity of [11C]KD2 binding could also be demonstrated on these human tissues. In conclusion, [11C]KD2 shows good in vitro and in vivo properties as a potential PET tracer for CB2.

Synthesis, radiolabeling and evaluation of novel 4-oxo-quinoline derivatives as PET tracers for imaging cannabinoid type 2 receptor.

Our goal is to develop a highly specific and selective PET brain tracer for imaging CB2 expression in patients with neuroinflammatory diseases. Based on our previous findings on a carbon-11 labeled 4-oxo-quinoline structure, designated KD2, further structural optimizations were performed, which led to the discovery of N-(1-adamantyl)-1-(2-ethoxyethyl)-8-methoxy-4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxamide (RS-016). Compared to KD2, RS-016 exhibits a higher binding affinity towards CB2 (Ki = 0.7 nM) with a selectivity over CB1 of >10,000 and lower lipophilicity (logD7.4 = 2.78). [(11)C]RS-016 was obtained in ≥99% radiochemical purity and up to 850GBq/µmol specific radioactivity at the end of synthesis. In vitro autoradiography on rodent spleen tissue showed high specific binding to CB2. [(11)C]RS-016 was stable in vitro in rodent and human plasma over 40 min, whereas 47% intact compound was found in vivo in rat blood plasma 20 min post injection (p.i.). High specific binding to CB2 was observed in murine spleen tissues and postmortem ALS patient spinal cord tissues in vitro autoradiography, ex vivo biodistribution data confirmed the high and specific uptake of [(11)C]RS-016 in spleen region in rats. In vivo specificity of [(11)C]RS-016 could also be shown in brain by PET imaging using a murine neuroinflammation model, which has higher CB2 receptor expression level in the brain induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) application.