A Fluorescent Probe as a Lead Compound for a Selective α-Synuclein PET Tracer: Development of a Library of 2-Styrylbenzothiazoles and Biological Evaluation of [F]PFSB and [F]MFSB.

A method to detect and quantify aggregated α-synuclein (αSYN) fibrils would drastically impact the current understanding of multiple neurodegenerative diseases, revolutionizing their diagnosis and treatment. Several efforts have produced promising scaffolds, but a notable challenge has hampered the establishment of a clinically successful αSYN positron emission tomography (PET) tracer: the requirement of high selectivity over the other misfolded proteins amyloid β (Aβ) and tau. By designing and screening a library of 2-styrylbenzothiazoles based on the selective fluorescent probe , this study aimed at developing a selective αSYN PET tracer. [H]PiB competition binding assays identified ( = 25.4 ± 2.3 nM) and its less lipophilic analogue , which exhibited enhanced affinity to αSYN ( = 10.3 ± 4.7 nM) and preserved selectivity over Aβ. The two lead compounds were labeled with fluorine-18 and evaluated using autoradiography on human brain slices, where they demonstrated up to 4-fold increased specific binding in MSA cases compared to the corresponding control, reasonably reflecting selective binding to αSYN pathology. PET imaging showed [F] successfully crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and is taken up in the brain (SUV = 1.79 ± 0.02). Although its pharmacokinetic profile raises the need for additional structural optimization, [F] represents a critical step forward in the development of a successful αSYN PET tracer by overcoming the major challenge of αSYN/Aβ selectivity.