Fluorine and rhenium substituted ghrelin analogues as potential imaging probes for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor.

In our effort to create imaging probes targeting the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), we now report on the design and synthesis of fluorine and rhenium containing ghrelin analogues through modification of the n-octanoyl Ser-3 side chain. Fluorine analogues were designed whereby the fluorine atom is situated at the terminus of an aliphatic chain using diaminopropionic acid (Dpr) as residue-3. Truncated ghrelin(1-5) and ghrelin(1-14) fluorine-bearing analogues were prepared, the best of which had a 28 nM IC(50) for GHSR. Ghrelin(1-14) analogues were also prepared containing rhenium, as a surrogate metal for technetium-99m, with a cyclopentadienylrhenium tricarbonyl being situated at the terminus of the residue-3 side chain, yielding compounds the best of which had a 35 nM IC(50). This represents a rare case of incorporating rhenium into a peptide structure where the metal complex is required for biological activity. These fluorine and rhenium derivatives demonstrate the ability to modify the Ser-3 side chain of ghrelin in order to create imaging probes for the GHSR.