Chemistry Weekly Seminar - Dr. Adam Shuhendler

Title:

CHO!-CHO!: The Little Biomarker That Could

Abstract:

Aldehydes are ubiquitous contributors to normal biochemistry that are maintained at innocuous levels through tight regulatory controls. Dysregulation of these controls, as occurs very early on in a range of diseases and acutely following injury, leads to elevations in aldehydes and imparts a more sinister role as initiators and propagators of pathology. While accepted as fundamental signals of stress, aldehydes as imaging biomarkers are under-exploited due to some inherent challenges in their detection. One challenge is the rapid, catalyst-free complexation of aldehydes under biologically compatible conditions. Another is the transiency of aldehydes as a marker for disease or injury, especially when aldehydes are derived from inflammatory processes. In efforts to overcome both of these challenges, we have repurposed chemistry affording the rapid and stable complexation of aldehydes under biological conditions and in vivo. We have developed probe chemistry providing aldehyde detection by positron emission tomography or chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging for in vivo mapping of aldehydic load. In parallel, we have adapted our probes for aldehyde detection through optical and electrical means, opening avenues for self-administered monitoring of one’s own biochemistry through sampling of body fluids. Ultimately, our goal is to develop chemistry enabling the biosensing of aldehydes through the parallel development self-screening tests that can inform the need and timing of a radiological examination focused on aldehydes as the imaging biomarker.