Radiosynthesis of [18F]FPenM-C2Am: A PET Imaging Agent for Detecting Cell Death

Imaging agents capable of detecting the extent, timing, and distribution of tumor cell death following treatment could be used in clinical trials of novel cancer therapies to get an early indication of efficacy and subsequently in the clinic to guide treatment in individual patients. We have shown how the C2A domain of synaptotagmin I, which binds the phosphatidylserine exposed by apoptotic and necrotic cells, can be used to image cell death (Bulat et al., EJNMMI Res 10(1):151, 2020; Neves et al. J Nucl Med 58(6):881–887, 2017). We describe here the semi-automated 18F labeling of the single cysteine residue in the protein (C2Am) that had been introduced by site-directed mutagenesis.