Protocol for detecting substrates in living cells by targeted molecular probes through hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe MRI

Due to limited detection sensitivity and contrast limitation, imaging substrates with ¹²⁹Xe MRI in living cells is still a challenge. Here, we present an effective protocol to detect and image substrates in human lung cancer cells A549 with hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe MRI. This protocol was optimized for a cryptophane-based probe sensitive to biothiols and can be expanded to other Xe-based probes to detect potential biomarkers in other mammalian cells. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Zeng et al. (2021).