U.K. researchers have reported details of a novel copper protein binding site that could be used in MRI contrast agents to improve image quality.
A group led by first author Anokhi Shah and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, said the discovery overturns conventional medical wisdom that copper is unsuitable for use in MRI contrast agents, according to a news release.
"Despite copper largely being disregarded for use in MRI contrast agents, our binding site was shown to display extremely promising contrast agent capabilities, with relaxivities equal and superior to the Gd(III) agents used routinely in clinical MRI," said co-author Dr. Anna Peacock.
The copper binding site is within a protein scaffold and displayed highly effective levels of relaxivity, which is the ability of a contrast agent to influence the relaxation times of protons to create clearer and more informative images during an MRI scan. The researchers noted that imaging agents based on copper could also be used in PET scans.
The study was published online on 26 June in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
