Novel amphiphilic probes for [18F]-radiolabeling preformed liposomes and determination of liposomal trafficking by positron emission tomography.

Positron-emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive real-time functional imaging system and is expected to be useful for the development of new drug candidates in clinical trials. For its application with preformulated liposomes, we devised an optimized [18F]-compound and developed a direct liposome modification method that we termed the "solid-phase transition method". We were successful in using 1-[18F]fluoro-3,6-dioxatetracosane ([18F]7a) for in vivo trafficking of liposomes. This method might be a useful tool in preclinical and clinical studies of lipidic particle-related drugs.