Demyelination, the loss of the insulating sheath of neurons,
causes
failed or slowed neuronal conduction and contributes to the neurological
symptoms in multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries,
stroke, and dementia. In demyelinated neurons, the axonal potassium
channels Kv1.1 and Kv1.2, generally under the
myelin sheath, become exposed and upregulated. Therefore, imaging
these channels using positron emission tomography can provide valuable
information for disease diagnosis and monitoring. Here, we describe
a novel tracer for Kv1 channels, [11C]3-methyl-4-aminopyridine
([11C]3Me4AP). [11C]3Me4AP was efficiently synthesized
via Pd(0)–Cu(I) comediated Stille cross-coupling of a stannyl
precursor containing a free amino group. Evaluation of its imaging
properties in rats and nonhuman primates showed that [11C]3Me4AP has a moderate brain permeability and slow kinetics. Additional
evaluation in monkeys showed that the tracer is metabolically stable
and that a one-tissue compartment model can accurately model the regional
brain time–activity curves. Compared to the related tracers
[18F]3-fluoro-4-aminopyridine ([18F]3F4AP) and
[11C]3-methoxy-4-aminopyridine ([11C]3MeO4AP),
[11C]3Me4AP shows lower initial brain uptake, which indicates
reduced permeability to the blood–brain barrier and slower
kinetics, suggesting higher binding affinity consistent with in vitro studies. While the slow kinetics and strong binding
affinity resulted in a tracer with less favorable properties for imaging
the brain than its predecessors, these properties may make 3Me4AP
useful as a therapeutic.