ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2017
Molecular Targets for PET Imaging of Activated Microglia: The Current Situation and Future Expectations.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multimodal microglial and kynurenine pathway alterations across the affective-psychosis spectrum: a systematic review of patterns, heterogeneity, and dimensional implications.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Trial
- Molecular Signaling Pathways in Depression and Neuroinflammation: Focus on New Pathophysiological Proteins and Therapeutic Compounds.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Contrast-enhanced TScientific reports · 2026Article
- PET imaging pitfall in recurrent oligodendroglioma with drug-resistant epilepsy: illustrative case.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2025Article
- Microglia matters: visualizing the immune battle in Parkinson's disease.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Article
- Evaluation of in vivo and in vitro binding property of a novel candidate PET tracer for CSF1R imaging and comparison with two currently-used CSF1R-PET tracers.EJNMMI radiopharmacy and chemistry · 2025Article
- Evaluation of [Molecular imaging and biology · 2025Article
- [Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2025Article
- Tryptophan Kynurenine Pathway-Based Imaging Agents for Brain Disorders and Oncology-From Bench to Bedside.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Harnessing brain-derived extracellular vesicles to support RDoC-based drug development.Neuroscience applied · 2025Review
- Does seasonal variation affect the neuroimmune system? A retrospective [Neuroscience letters · 2024Article
- Involvement of microglial P2X7 receptor in pain modulation.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Review
- Unlocking the therapeutic potential of P2X7 receptor: a comprehensive review of its role in neurodegenerative disorders.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Review
- Epigenetic associations ofFrontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Non-invasiveFrontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2024Review
- Radiotracers for Imaging of Inflammatory Biomarkers TSPO and COX-2 in the Brain and in the Periphery.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Leveraging the ATP-P2X7 receptor signalling axis to alleviate traumatic CNS damage and related complications.Medicinal research reviews · 2023Review
- Concussion: Beyond the Cascade.Cells · 2023Review
- Escalating Bi-Directional Feedback Loops between Proinflammatory Microglia and Mitochondria in Ageing and Post-Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microglia, as cellular mediators of neuroinflammation, are implicated in the pathogenesis of a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of microglia has matured over the last 20 years, through the development of radiopharmaceuticals targeting several molecular biomarkers of microglial activation and, among these, mainly the translocator protein-18 kDa (TSPO). Nevertheless, current limitations of TSPO as a PET microglial biomarker exist, such as low brain density, even in a neurodegenerative setting, expression by other cells than the microglia (astrocytes, peripheral macrophages in the case of blood brain barrier breakdown), genetic polymorphism, inducing a variation for most of TSPO PET radiopharmaceuticals' binding affinity, or similar expression in activated microglia regardless of its polarization (pro- or anti-inflammatory state), and these limitations narrow its potential interest. We overview alternative molecular targets, for which dedicated radiopharmaceuticals have been proposed, including receptors (purinergic receptors P2X7, cannabinoid receptors, α7 and α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, adenosine 2A receptor, folate receptor β) and enzymes (cyclooxygenase, nitric oxide synthase, matrix metalloproteinase, β-glucuronidase, and enzymes of the kynurenine pathway), with a particular focus on their respective contribution for the understanding of microglial involvement in neurodegenerative diseases. We discuss opportunities for these potential molecular targets for PET imaging regarding their selectivity for microglia expression and polarization, in relation to the mechanisms by which microglia actively participate in both toxic and neuroprotective actions in brain diseases, and then take into account current clinicians' expectations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.