Paramagnetic Relaxation-Based 19F MRI Probe To Detect Protease Activity

A novel design principle for 19F MRI probes detecting protease activity was developed. This principle is based on 19F MRI signal quenching by the intramolecular paramagnetic effect from Gd3+. The intramolecular Gd3+ dramatically attenuated the 19F probe signal, and the paramagnetic effect was cancelled by the probe hydrolyzation by caspase-3. Using this probe, it was shown that the probe could detect caspase-3 activity spatially from a phantom image using 19F MRI.