Resolved 13C metabolic imaging was performed on tumor bearing rats in vivo using an EPI MedChemExpress SMER-28 sequence incorporating spectral-spatial excitation [28] with (5 mm)3 isotropic spatial resolution and 5 s temporal resolution from a 3D volume that included the kidneys and tumor (FOV: 8 cm68 cm66 cm). Injection of 2 ml/80 mM pre-polarized [1-13C]pyruvate was performed (0.2 ml per second) into the tail vein for each study. The data acquisition was started at the beginning of the substrate injection. Resonances of [1-13C]lactate, [1-13C]pyruvate and 13C-urea (reference phantom) were excited and sampled sequentially during each 5 s interval [29]. The nominal effective tip angle (after 
the 12 excitations required to image each volume) at each time point was 60 and 9 degrees for lactate and pyruvate, respectively (RF pulse amplitude were modulated to achieve the different tip angle). A smaller tip angle was used for [1-13C]pyruvate to prevent premature saturation of the pre-polarized signal [29,30]. The duration of data acquisition was 60 s (12 temporally resolved images for each metabolite). This imaging approach allows the imaging window to be extended beyond a shorter (10?0 s), fixed window centered around a presumed temporal maximum of metabolites used in prior 13C MR spectroscopic imaging studies [6?]. The magnitude images of 13C pyruvate and lactate were reconstructed by the default MR scanner software (k-space data were zero filled to 1286128 in plane matrix prior to Fourier transform). ROIs of tumors (from two consecutive 5 mm axial slices in the SI center of the tumor) and left kidney (one 5 mm axial slice) were drawn on the 1H anatomical images using OsiriX DICOM image viewer (http:// www.osirix-viewer.com/). The 13C pyruvate and lactate images were overlay on the anatomical images and lactate and pyruvate signals from the tumor and kidney ROIs were measured and corrected for the different nominal tip angles used (pyruvate signal amplitudes were multiplied by sin(60)/sin(9)) but not by the phantom signal. The GSK -3203591 site summed data from all time points (i.e. area under the curve) were used for analysis. T2-weighted 1H anatomical images were acquired using a fast spin-echo (FSE) pulse sequence (Axial: FOV = 12 cm, 2566192 matrix, 5 mm slice thickness, from the same slice locations as the 13C images; Coronal: FOV = 12 cm, 2566192 matrix, 3 mm slice thickness) for localization and volume measurements of the tumors. To estimate the tumor volume, ROIs around the tumor were drawn on consecutive slices of axial T2-weighted 1H anatomical images using OsiriX DICOM image viewer, tumor volume was calculated as summed ROI area multiplied by the slice thickness. 13 C MRS experiments in vitro. Viable cell suspensions were prepared using a previously described protocol [31]. Time resolved 13C MR spectroscopy experiments were performed on untreated (n = 2) and radiation treated (96 hrs post treatment, n = 2) MDA-MB-231 cells following infusion of 600 ml of prepolarized 40 mM [1-13C]pyruvate/20 mM sodium lactate (not 13 C enriched) solution into the cell suspension [8]. The addition of non-enriched lactate to the hyperpolarized solution was necessary to increase the detection limit for [1-13C]lactate in these experiments, as it provided 
a larger lactate pool in the cell suspension to be exchanged with the substrate (as demonstrated in Ref. 7). The protocol still allows investigation of changes in apparent pyruvate ?lactate flux due to alternation in LDH expression or avai.Resolved 13C metabolic imaging was performed on tumor bearing rats in vivo using an EPI sequence incorporating spectral-spatial excitation [28] with (5 mm)3 isotropic spatial resolution and 5 s temporal resolution from a 3D volume that included the kidneys and tumor (FOV: 8 cm68 cm66 cm). Injection of 2 ml/80 mM pre-polarized [1-13C]pyruvate was performed (0.2 ml per second) into the tail vein for each study. The data acquisition was started at the beginning of the substrate injection. Resonances of [1-13C]lactate, [1-13C]pyruvate and 13C-urea (reference phantom) were excited and sampled sequentially during each 5 s interval [29]. The nominal effective tip angle (after the 12 excitations required to image each volume) at each time point was 60 and 9 degrees for lactate and pyruvate, respectively (RF pulse amplitude were modulated to achieve the different tip angle). A smaller tip angle was used for [1-13C]pyruvate to prevent premature saturation of the pre-polarized signal [29,30]. The duration of data acquisition was 60 s (12 temporally resolved images for each metabolite). This imaging approach allows the imaging window to be extended beyond a shorter (10?0 s), fixed window centered around a presumed temporal maximum of metabolites used in prior 13C MR spectroscopic imaging studies [6?]. The magnitude images of 13C pyruvate and lactate were reconstructed by the default MR scanner software (k-space data were zero filled to 1286128 in plane matrix prior to Fourier transform). ROIs of tumors (from two consecutive 5 mm axial slices in the SI center of the tumor) and left kidney (one 5 mm axial slice) were drawn on the 1H anatomical images using OsiriX DICOM image viewer (http:// www.osirix-viewer.com/). The 13C pyruvate and lactate images were overlay on the anatomical images and lactate and pyruvate signals from the tumor and kidney ROIs were measured and corrected for the different nominal tip angles used (pyruvate signal amplitudes were multiplied by sin(60)/sin(9)) but not by the phantom signal. The summed data from all time points (i.e. area under the curve) were used for analysis. T2-weighted 1H anatomical images were acquired using a fast spin-echo (FSE) pulse sequence (Axial: FOV = 12 cm, 2566192 matrix, 5 mm slice thickness, from the same slice locations as the 13C images; Coronal: FOV = 12 cm, 2566192 matrix, 3 mm slice thickness) for localization and volume measurements of the tumors. To estimate the tumor volume, ROIs around the tumor were drawn on consecutive slices of axial T2-weighted 1H anatomical images using OsiriX DICOM image viewer, tumor volume was calculated as summed ROI area multiplied by the slice thickness. 13 C MRS experiments in vitro. Viable cell suspensions were prepared using a previously described protocol [31]. Time resolved 13C MR spectroscopy experiments were performed on untreated (n = 2) and radiation treated (96 hrs post treatment, n = 2) MDA-MB-231 cells following infusion of 600 ml of prepolarized 40 mM [1-13C]pyruvate/20 mM sodium lactate (not 13 C enriched) solution into the cell suspension [8]. The addition of non-enriched lactate to the hyperpolarized solution was necessary to increase the detection limit for [1-13C]lactate in these experiments, as it provided a larger lactate pool in the cell suspension to be exchanged with the substrate (as demonstrated in Ref. 7). The protocol still allows investigation of changes in apparent pyruvate ?lactate flux due to alternation in LDH expression or avai.