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An Update on the State of Tau Radiotracer Development: a Brief Review

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Abstract

Evolving scientific evidence has begun to point towards hyperphosphorylated tau as a major neurotoxic component in the pathophysiological development of many major neurodegenerative conditions. In response to a need for accurate and reliable diagnosis and disease monitoring in clinical and trial settings, there has been great effort put into the development of tau radiotracers. While first-generation and second-generation radiotracers have provided a basis for assessing tau, concerns of inadequate specificity and selectivity have continued to motivate further study of these radiotracers and the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals. Given the prospective scientific and clinical value of a valid tau radiotracer, the molecular neuroimaging community must be aware of the most recent developments in the realm of tau radiotracer development. This brief review article will critically overview the most established tau radiotracers and, most importantly, concentrate on the progress of more recently developed tau radiotracers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK

    Grant Rigney

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Cyrus Ayubcha

  3. Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Thomas J. Werner & Abass Alavi

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  1. Grant Rigney
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Rigney, G., Ayubcha, C., Werner, T.J. et al. An Update on the State of Tau Radiotracer Development: a Brief Review. Mol Imaging Biol 23, 797–808 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-021-01612-1

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