Transportable hyperpolarized metabolites

Dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (d-DNP) is a powerful method to enhance nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals by several orders of magnitude, notably in 13C-labelled metabolites. The production of 13C-hyperpolarized metabolites has opened the way to a broad range of novel experiments, such as the detection of intermediates in fast chemical reactions the observation of protein folding in real time or the detection and monitoring of cancer in humans. In d-DNP experiments, the 13C metabolites are usually polarized at low temperatures (1. K) and moderate fields (usually 3. T) either directly6 or indirectly by 1H-13C cross-polarization (CP). The sample formulation usually consists of a homogeneous aqueous mixture of paramagnetic polarizing agents (PAs) and metabolites sometimes containing a glass-forming agent such as glycerol. The frozen solution is then dynamically polarized by microwave irradiation.