MOLECULAR IMAGING OF THE LUNGS docx

[...]... Radiotracers for Molecular Imaging The premise of molecular imaging is that “sick” cells are different from their “normal” neighbors, that is, they have a distinctive phenotype because of altered expression or processing of gene products Molecular imaging takes advantage of a variety of specific markers induced by pathological cell alterations to detect disease much earlier and to predict or assess therapeutic... with simultaneous emission of a neutrino (n) The positron is the antiparticle to the electron and the energy of emission can take a continuum of values up to a maximum, which depends on the difference between the energetic states of the parent – daughter nuclei After emission from the nucleus, the positron loses kinetic energy by collisions and scattering with surrounding atoms The positron eventually... and antigens); the use of molecular imaging and reporter gene strategies to study gene expression is rapidly progressing (2,4,10) Once the molecular target is chosen, the next step is administration of an exogenous contrast agent to visualize target location by means of an imaging system Molecular imaging probes are typically composed of a signaling component and an affinity component The signaling component... Niederman The opinions expressed in these volumes do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institutes of Health MOLECULAR IMAGING OF THE LUNGS Edited by Daniel P Schuster Washington University St Louis, Missouri, U.S.A Timothy S Blackwell Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A Boca Raton London New York Singapore Preface A suite of emerging techniques, known collectively as molecular. .. a biomolecule The BFCAs of choice to label biomolecules with gallium are the versatile DTPA and DOTA ligands Some of the target-specific tracers obtained by conjugating these ligands to biomolecules will be considered in the following sections The establishment and evolution of diagnostic nuclear medicine can probably be attributed to the existence of 99mTc (27) Since the introduction of gamma cameras... successful as a molecular imaging probe, it must be distributable throughout the body, accumulate at the target, remain at the target long enough to be detectable in vivo, and clear from nontarget tissues In short, successful in vivo screening of potential molecular imaging agents must overcome significant hurdles Stability of the imaging probe in the blood after intravenous administration is of paramount... the underlying techniques themselves, including instrumentation, radionuclide-based methods, optical imaging approaches, magnetic resonance methods, and ultrasonography In the second, “Applications,” the focus turns to how these methods have already been—and will be in the future—applied to studies involving the lungs, including such diverse topics as gene expression imaging, inflammation imaging, imaging. .. References 55 3 PET and SPECT as Platforms for Molecular Imaging 59 Buck E Rogers I Introduction 60 II SPECT Imaging 60 III PET Imaging 64 IV SPECT Imaging vs PET Imaging 67 V Applications of PET and SPECT Molecular Imaging 69 VI Summary 80 Acknowledgments 80 References 81 4 Imaging Cellular and Molecular Processes in the Lung Using Bioluminescent Reporter Genes... decays to a lower state (either the ground state or another intermediate state) with lifetimes from picoseconds to years Gamma ray emissions are characteristic of the radionuclide, and the energies of the emitted photons depend on the energy differences between the initial excited state and the next one Radionuclides are primarily produced in cyclotrons or reactors, depending on the nuclear reaction required... of fluorine is similar to that of hydrogen, 18 F-labeling causes very little steric alteration of the biomolecule However, the electronegative nature of fluorine can alter the binding properties or reactivity of the labeled molecule 11 C is a positron-emitting radionuclide (99.8%) with a 20.4 min half-life The half-life of this radionuclide allows both multi-step syntheses of radiotracers and repeated . gene expression imaging, inflammation imaging, imaging pulmonary cytokine regulation, molecular imaging of lung cancer, and imaging cell death, among others. Taking advantage of these new capabilities. for noninvasive imaging of molecular events in the lungs vi Preface of intact animals and in humans, need to become aware of these approaches to studying lung biology, both for their promise and. Tennessee, U.S.A. MOLECULAR IMAGING OF THE LUNGS DK5682_half-series-title.qxd 3/24/05 10:19 AM Page i Preface A suite of emerging techniques, known collectively as molecular imaging, ” now offer scientists