Radiosynthesis and Preclinical Evaluation of an (18)F-Labeled Triazolopyridopyrazine-Based Inhibitor for Neuroimaging of the Phosphodiesterase 2A (PDE2A)

The cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 2A is an intracellular enzyme which hydrolyzes the secondary messengers cAMP and cGMP and therefore plays an important role in signaling cascades. A high expression in distinct brain areas as well as in cancer cells makes PDE2A an interesting therapeutic and diagnostic target for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases as well as for cancer. Aiming at specific imaging of this enzyme in the brain with positron emission tomography (PET), a new triazolopyridopyrazine-based derivative (11) was identified as a potent PDE2A inhibitor (IC(50,) (PDE2A) = 1.99 nM; IC(50, PDE10A) ~2000 nM) and has been radiofluorinated for biological evaluation. In vitro autoradiographic studies revealed that [(18)F]11 binds with high affinity and excellent specificity towards PDE2A in the rat brain. For the PDE2A-rich region nucleus caudate and putamen an apparent K(D) value of 0.24 nM and an apparent B(max) value of 16 pmol/mg protein were estimated. In vivo PET-MR studies in rats showed a moderate brain uptake of [(18)F]11 with a highest standardized uptake value (SUV) of 0.97. However, no considerable enrichment in PDE2A-specific regions in comparison to a reference region was detectable (SUV(caudate putamen) = 0.51 vs. SUV(cerebellum) = 0.40 at 15 min p.i.). Furthermore, metabolism studies revealed a considerable uptake of radiometabolites of [(18)F]11 in the brain (66% parent fraction at 30 min p.i.). Altogether, despite the low specificity and the blood–brain barrier crossing of radiometabolites observed in vivo, [(18)F]11 is a valuable imaging probe for the in vitro investigation of PDE2A in the brain and has potential as a lead compound for further development of a PDE2A-specific PET ligand for neuroimaging.