Abstract
Molecular imaging is aimed at the noninvasive visualization of the expression and function of bioactive molecules that often represent specific molecular signatures in disease processes. Any molecular imaging procedure requires an imaging probe that is specific to a given molecular event, which puts an important emphasis on chemistry development. In MR imaging, the past years have witnessed significant advances in the design of molecular agents, though most of these efforts have not yet progressed to in vivo studies. In this review, we present some examples relevant to potential neurobiologic applications. Our aim was to show what chemistry can bring to the area of molecular MR imaging with a focus on the 2 main classes of imaging probes: Gd(3+)-based and PARACEST agents. We will discuss responsive probes for the detection of metal ions such as Ca, Zn, Fe, and Cu, pH, enzymatic activity, and oxygenation state.
Highlights
PARACEST probes are ideally suited for molecular imaging because contrary to Gd3ϩ-based MR imaging agents, the contrast can be switched on and off at will by adjusting the pulse sequence parameters
Another advantage of PARACEST with respect to relaxivity agents is the possibility of applying ratiometric approaches that eliminate the problem of unknown local concentration of the agent and allow quantitative determination
We present some examples of recent development of molecular MR imaging probes relevant to neurobiologic applications
Summary
SUMMARY: Molecular imaging is aimed at the noninvasive visualization of the expression and function of bioactive molecules that often represent specific molecular signatures in disease processes. PARACEST probes are ideally suited for molecular imaging because contrary to Gd3ϩ-based MR imaging agents, the contrast can be switched on and off at will by adjusting the pulse sequence parameters Another advantage of PARACEST with respect to relaxivity agents is the possibility of applying ratiometric approaches that eliminate the problem of unknown local concentration of the agent and allow quantitative determination. Other reviews related to molecular neuroimaging, not restricted to MR imaging, have been recently published.[9,10,11] Here we will discuss paramagnetic lanthanide complexes involving Gd3ϩ agents and PARACEST probes and will focus on responsive agents designed to detect metal ions, such as Ca2ϩ, Zn2ϩ, Cu2ϩ, and Fe2ϩ/3ϩ, pH, enzymatic activity, and oxygenation state.
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