Positron-emission tomography articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Viral vectors with intense and long-lasting transgene expression are essential for manipulating and imaging of neuronal activity in the primate brain. Here, the authors created a mosaic vector composed of capsid proteins derived from AAV1 and AAV2 that exhibits improved transgene expression and neuronal specificity.

    • Kei Kimura
    • , Yuji Nagai
    •  & Masahiko Takada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pharmacological and surgical treatments of epilepsy can have unsatisfactory outcomes, so a more targeted and on-demand approach is desirable. Here, the authors demonstrate the usage of inhibitory chemogenetics in male nonhuman primates to attenuate the magnitude and spread of cortical seizures and subsequent body convulsions.

    • Naohisa Miyakawa
    • , Yuji Nagai
    •  & Takafumi Minamimoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanisms underpinning the variability in methylphenidate’s effects on cognition remain unclear. Here, the authors show that such effects reflect changes in striatal dopamine-related output gating of task-relevant cortical signals, and that these changes depend on baseline dopamine synthesis capacity.

    • Ruben van den Bosch
    • , Britt Lambregts
    •  & Roshan Cools

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers measure the metabolic activity in cancer cells in patients. Here, the authors develop a microscopy method to image organoids using clinical radiotracers, which allows a direct comparison to PET imaging in patients.

    • Syamantak Khan
    • , June Ho Shin
    •  & Guillem Pratx

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) comprises over 10% of total fat mass but its systemic metabolic role is unclear. Here, the authors show that BMAT glucose uptake is not insulin or cold responsive; however, BMAT basal glucose uptake is higher than in white adipose tissue or skeletal muscle, underscoring BMAT’s potential to influence systemic glucose homeostasis.

    • Karla J. Suchacki
    • , Adriana A. S. Tavares
    •  & William P. Cawthorn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) can be targeted in a tissue-specific manner, but their tissue accumulation cannot be assessed in a non-invasive manner. Here the authors conjugate a multivalent chelator labelled with Cu-64 to the surface of AAVs and image the brain accumulation of the PHB.eB capsid by PET.

    • Jai Woong Seo
    • , Elizabeth S. Ingham
    •  & Katherine W. Ferrara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) are a powerful tool for neuroscience, but the standard DREADD ligand, CNO, has significant drawbacks. Here the authors report two novel high-potency DREADD ligands and a novel DREADD radiotracer for imaging purposes.

    • Jordi Bonaventura
    • , Mark A. G. Eldridge
    •  & Michael Michaelides

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gene transcription is known to vary with age and sex, although the underlying mechanisms are unresolved. Here, the authors show that epigenetic enzymes known as HDACs, which regulate gene transcription, are increasingly expressed with age in the living human brain, with sex differences also observed.

    • Tonya M. Gilbert
    • , Nicole R. Zürcher
    •  & Jacob M. Hooker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition occurs in Alzheimer's disease but its relation to disease features such as local brain hypometabolism or cognitive decline is unclear. Here, the authors show that Aβ aggregation in the brain’s default mode network leads to hypometabolism in distant but functionally connected areas.

    • Tharick A. Pascoal
    • , Sulantha Mathotaarachchi
    •  & Pedro Rosa-Neto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It has proven difficult to measure the release of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, in the human brain. Here, the authors introduce and validate a new method that infers dopamine release based on minute-by-minute fluctuations of the positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand [11C]raclopride.

    • Rachel N. Lippert
    • , Anna Lena Cremer
    •  & Heiko Backes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Treatment of small-cell lung cancer remains a challenge due to multiple mechanisms of resistance to current therapies; measuring patient response is crucial in adapting and choosing adequate treatment. Here the authors develop a strategy to visualise in vivo dynamics of a class of widely used PARP inhibitors.

    • Brandon Carney
    • , Susanne Kossatz
    •  & Thomas Reiner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Abnormal levels of Aβ42 in the cerebrospinal fluid occur prior to a positive amyloid PET scan in the brain of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and here the authors use this temporal pattern to identify individuals with very early stage AD. They show that Aβ fibrils start to accumulate in some of the regions of the default mode network and affect brain connectivity before neurodegeneration occurs.

    • Sebastian Palmqvist
    • , Michael Schöll
    •  & Oskar Hansson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current approaches to visualise brown adipose tissue (BAT) rely primarily on markers that reflect its metabolic activity. Here, the authors show that PD-L1 is expressed on brown adipocytes, does not change upon BAT activation, and that BAT volume in mice can be measured by PET-CT with a radiolabeled anti-PD-L1 antibody.

    • Jessica R. Ingram
    • , Michael Dougan
    •  & Hidde L. Ploegh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-invasive cell tracking is a powerful method to visualize cells in vivo under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Here Thunemann et al. generate a mouse model for in vivo tracking and quantification of specific cell types by combining a PET reporter gene with Cre-dependent activation that can be exploited for any cell population for which a Cre mouse line is available.

    • Martin Thunemann
    • , Barbara F. Schörg
    •  & Robert Feil

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Brown adipose tissue (BAT) takes up and burns fatty acids for thermogenesis in mice. Here the authors use PET to show that, in humans, cold stimulation increases BAT dietary fatty acid uptake from plasma and oxidative metabolism, although, unlike mice, human BAT takes up less fatty acids than other metabolic tissues.

    • Denis P. Blondin
    • , Hans C. Tingelstad
    •  & André C. Carpentier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In vivo imaging of inflammation is crucial for detection and monitoring of many pathologies and noninvasive macrophage quantification has been suggested as a possible approach. Here Keliher et al. describe novel polyglucose nanoparticle tracers that are rapidly excreted by the kidney and with high affinity for macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques.

    • Edmund J. Keliher
    • , Yu-Xiang Ye
    •  & Matthias Nahrendorf

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoparticle drug formulations are currently used as cancer treatment but the response in patients is highly variable. Here, the authors developed a Zirconium-89 nanoreporter able to predict using PET, therapeutic accumulation and efficacy of anti-cancer nanoparticle drug formulations when co-injected in a murine breast cancer model.

    • Carlos Pérez-Medina
    • , Dalya Abdel-Atti
    •  & Thomas Reiner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Imaging tools for evaluating progression of Alzheimer’s disease have been lacking. Here the authors develop a blood brain barrier-permeable Aß probe based on a radiolabelled, anti-Aß antibody, and report age-dependent brain uptake visualized in vivo with PET in mouse models of the disease.

    • Dag Sehlin
    • , Xiaotian T. Fang
    •  & Stina Syvänen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Functional imaging of proteolytic activity is an emerging strategy to guide patient diagnosis and monitor clinical outcome. Here the authors present a peptide-based probe to detect and localize thrombin activity ex vivoand non-invasively in mouse models of wounding and pulmonary thrombosis.

    • Michael J. Page
    • , André L. Lourenço
    •  & Charles S. Craik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atherosclerotic plaques with macrocalcification are stable, whereas microcalcification is a key feature of rupture-prone plaques. Here the authors show that18F-NaF PET/CT imaging can distinguish between macro- and microcalcification providing a potential, non-invasive imaging technique to identify patients with high-risk atheroma.

    • Agnese Irkle
    • , Alex T. Vesey
    •  & Anthony P. Davenport

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) has been implicated in steroid biogenesis and neuroinflammation. Here, the authors create viable and fertile global TSPO knockout mice, challenging the assumption that TSPO is essential for mouse development but suggesting that it may have a role under certain disease conditions.

    • Richard B. Banati
    • , Ryan J. Middleton
    •  & Guo-Jun Liu

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