Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Synaptic Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Jiaqi Niu; Yan Zhong; Chentao Jin; Peili Cen; Jing Wang; Chunyi Cui; Le Xue; Xingyue Cui; Mei Tian; Hong Zhang

doi:10.1007/s12264-024-01188-0

Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Synaptic Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Neurosci Bull. 2024 Mar 14. doi: 10.1007/s12264-024-01188-0. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jiaqi Niu^{1

2

3}, Yan Zhong^{1

2

3}, Chentao Jin^{1

2

3}, Peili Cen^{1

2

3}, Jing Wang^{1

2

3}, Chunyi Cui^{1

2

3}, Le Xue^{1

2

3}, Xingyue Cui^{1

2

3}, Mei Tian^{4

5

6

7}, Hong Zhang^{8

9

10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
² Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Imaging of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310009, China.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China. tianmei@fudan.edu.cn.
⁵ Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China. tianmei@fudan.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Imaging of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310009, China. tianmei@fudan.edu.cn.
⁷ Huashan Hospital and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China. tianmei@fudan.edu.cn.
⁸ Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, China. hzhang21@zju.edu.cn.
⁹ Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310009, China. hzhang21@zju.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Imaging of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310009, China. hzhang21@zju.edu.cn.
¹¹ College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310014, China. hzhang21@zju.edu.cn.
¹² Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310014, China. hzhang21@zju.edu.cn.

PMID: 38483697
DOI: 10.1007/s12264-024-01188-0

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases with a complex pathogenesis. Aggregations formed by abnormal deposition of alpha-synuclein (αSyn) lead to synapse dysfunction of the dopamine and non-dopamine systems. The loss of dopaminergic neurons and concomitant alterations in non-dopaminergic function in PD constitute its primary pathological manifestation. Positron emission tomography (PET), as a representative molecular imaging technique, enables the non-invasive visualization, characterization, and quantification of biological processes at cellular and molecular levels. Imaging synaptic function with PET would provide insights into the mechanisms underlying PD and facilitate the optimization of clinical management. In this review, we focus on the synaptic dysfunction associated with the αSyn pathology of PD, summarize various related targets and radiopharmaceuticals, and discuss applications and perspectives of PET imaging of synaptic dysfunction in PD.

Keywords: Alpha-synuclein; Dopamine system; Non-dopamine system; Parkinson’s disease; Positron emission tomography; Synapse dysfunction.

Publication types

Review