ReviewEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging2021
Cellular sources of TSPO expression in healthy and diseased brain.
Review in European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 111 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
111 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 186 citations in OpenAlex.
- In vivo quantitative imaging of hippocampal inflammation in autoimmune neuroinflammatory conditions: a systematic review.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Does a monoclonal antibody targeting immune cells affect glutamatergic level in schizophrenia? A multimodal PET/MRS brain imaging study.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Inhibition of p38α MAPK increases short-term astrocyte reactivity: the exploratory VIP trial in early Alzheimer's disease.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2025Trial
- MINocyclinE to Reduce inflammation and blood-brain barrier leakage in small Vessel diseAse (MINERVA): A phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experimental medicine trial.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Trial
- Immune and Autoimmune Mechanisms in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Linking Molecular Pathways to Neuropsychological Trajectories Across the Lifespan.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Pain Mechanisms in Fibromyalgia: An Integrative Narrative Review of Central, Peripheral, Neuroimmune, and Psychobiological Factors.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Th17 effector cytokines induce shared and distinct microglial and endothelial cell responses in a mouse model for post-streptococcal encephalitis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Application of a Combined Transcriptomics and Proteomics Analysis Approach to Explore Potential Mechanisms of Biomarkers in NIHL.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Multi-dimensional decoding of the TSPO signal in animal models of neuroinflammation using fluorescence-conjugated DPA714.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Astrocyte Activation Persists after Recovery of Myelin and Motor Deficits in the Cuprizone Model: a Longitudinal PET and CNS Tissue Analysis Study.Molecular imaging and biology · 2026Article
- Article
- From neuroinflammation to neural inference: computational psychiatry meets precision medicine.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- [11C]CS1P1 PET links T-cell-associated immune activation with endothelial and astrocytic responses.Research square · 2026Article
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- [BMC neurology · 2026Article
- Microglial reactivity predicts hippocampal, but not global, atrophy in cerebral small vessel disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Th17 effector cytokines induce shared and distinct microglial and endothelial cell responses in post-streptococcal encephalitis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Comparing and combining TSPO-PET tracers in tauopathies.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, activated glia, and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: a dual-tracer PET study.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mechanistic Investigation of TSPO-Mediated Dysregulation of Mitochondrial Copper Homeostasis in Microglia and its Role in Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorders.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) is a highly conserved protein located in the outer mitochondrial membrane. TSPO binding, as measured with positron emission tomography (PET), is considered an in vivo marker of neuroinflammation. Indeed, TSPO expression is altered in neurodegenerative, neuroinflammatory, and neuropsychiatric diseases. In PET studies, the TSPO signal is often viewed as a marker of microglial cell activity. However, there is little evidence in support of a microglia-specific TSPO expression. This review describes the cellular sources and functions of TSPO in animal models of disease and human studies, in health, and in central nervous system diseases. A discussion of methods of analysis and of quantification of TSPO is also presented. Overall, it appears that the alterations of TSPO binding, their cellular underpinnings, and the functional significance of such alterations depend on many factors, notably the pathology or the animal model under study, the disease stage, and the involved brain regions. Thus, further studies are needed to fully determine how changes in TSPO binding occur at the cellular level with the ultimate goal of revealing potential therapeutic pathways.
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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.