Here, we report the application of ultrasensitive hyperpolarized (HP) 13C NMR to investigate the metabolism of 13C-enriched pyruvate in cancer cells.  Hyperpolarization of 13C-enriched pyruvate, or [1-13C]pyruvate, by dynamic nuclear polarization improved the 13C NMR sensitivity by >10,000-fold.1 Using this technique, real-time metabolism of HP [1-13C]pyruvate was studied in human non-small cell lung cancer cells A549 and human prostatic adenocarcinoma cells LNCaP.  Results showed that the conversion of pyruvate to lactate and alanine was detected seconds after the addition HP [1-13C]pyruvate to the cell suspensions.  Higher production of lactate (183.4 ppm) from pyruvate was observed in more aggressive, tumorigenic A549 cells.  High-resolution 1H NMR of the cell extracts confirmed the HP 13C NMR results.  The higher pyruvate-lactate conversion in A549 cells can be attributed to the elevated aerobic glycolysis as a result of respiration injury or mitochondrial dysfunction in rapidly growing cancer cells.  Hence, non-small cell lung cancer cells depends more on aerobic glycolysis because of the serious attenuation of mitochondrial bioenergetics functions.  It has been shown that tumor aggressiveness is highly relevant to the degree of mitochondrial dysfunction.  Therefore, the results demonstrated the potential of hyperpolarized 13C NMR as a noninvasive tool for characterizing tumor aggressiveness and progression by studying cancer metabolism in vivo.1. Hurd, R. E.; Yen, Y. F.; Chen, A.; Ardenkjaer-Larsen, J. H., Hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging using dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization. J Magn Reson Imaging 2012,  36 (6), 1314-1328.

Investigation of real-time metabolism in cancer cells by hyperpolarized <sup>13</sup>C NMR

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Investigation of real-time metabolism in cancer cells by hyperpolarized 13C NMR

Investigation of real-time metabolism in cancer cells by hyperpolarized ¹³C NMR