AUTHOR=Gao Shuo , Zhao Lei , Fan Zhiqiang , Kodibagkar Vikram D. , Liu Li , Wang Hanqin , Xu Hong , Tu Mingli , Hu Bifu , Cao Chuanbin , Zhang Zhenjian , Yu Jian-Xin 

TITLE=In Situ Generated Novel 1H MRI Reporter for β-Galactosidase Activity Detection and Visualization in Living Tumor Cells

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.709581

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.709581

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>For wide applications of the <italic>lacZ</italic> gene in cellular/molecular biology, small animal investigations, and clinical assessments, the improvement of noninvasive imaging approaches to precisely assay gene expression has garnered much attention. In this study, we investigate a novel molecular platform in which alizarin 2-<italic>O</italic>-β-<sc><italic>d</italic></sc>-galactopyranoside <bold>AZ-1</bold> acts as a <italic>lacZ</italic> gene/β-gal responsive <sup>1</sup>H-MRI probe to induce significant <sup>1</sup>H-MRI contrast changes in relaxation times <italic>T</italic><sub>1</sub> and <italic>T</italic><sub>2</sub><italic>in situ</italic> as a concerted effect for the discovery of β-gal activity with the exposure of Fe<sup>3+</sup>. We also demonstrate the capability of this strategy for detecting β-gal activity with <italic>lacZ</italic>-transfected human MCF7 breast and PC3 prostate cancer cells by reaction-enhanced <sup>1</sup>H-MRI <italic>T</italic><sub>1</sub> and <italic>T</italic><sub>2</sub> relaxation mapping.</p>