Observation of glycolytic metabolites in tumor cell lysate by using hyperpolarization of deuterated glucose.

Hyperpolarization of stable isotope-labeled substrates and subsequent NMR measurement of the metabolic reactions allow for direct tracking of cellular reactions in vitro and in vivo. Here, we report the hyperpolarization of (13)C6-glucose-d7 and evaluate its use as probes to observe glucose flux in cells. We measured the lifetime of the polarized signal governed by the spin-lattice relaxation time T1. (13)C6-Glucose-d7 exhibited a T1 that was over ten times as long as that of (13)C6-glucose, and metabolic NMR studies of hyperpolarized (13)C6-glucose-d7 using tumor cell lysate led to observation of the resonances due to phosphorylated fluctofuranoses generated through aerobic glycolysis.