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Receptor Binding Techniques pp 221–237Cite as

Dynamic In Vivo Imaging of Receptors in Small Animals Using Positron Emission Tomography

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 897))

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique with the potential to image and quantify receptors in vivo with high sensitivity. PET has been used extensively to study major neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and benzodiazepine in humans as well as proving to be a very powerful tool to accelerate development and assessment of existing and novel drugs. With the recent development of dedicated PET scanners for small animals, such as the microPET, it is now possible to perform functional imaging in small animals such as rodents at high resolution. This will allow the study of animal models of disease and longitudinal studies in these models to monitor disease progression or effect of treatment in the same animal. Furthermore, the complete pharmacokinetics of a drug as well as pharmacodynamic information can be obtained in a single animal. Thus, small animal imaging will significantly reduce the number of animals needed for this type of experiment as well as reducing the effect of inter-animal variation. Experimental protocols in small animal imaging potentially can be very labor intensive. In this chapter, we discuss methods and practical aspects related to this type of experiment using the microPET system.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by grants from the British Heart Foundation (RG10/007/28300) and the Medical Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AstraZeneca Research and Development, Södertälje, Sweden

    Peter Johnström

  2. Academic Neurosurgery Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Tim D. Fryer & Hugh K. Richards

  3. Clinical Pharmacology Unit, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Centre for Clinical Investigation, Cambridge, UK

    Joseph L. Bird & Anthony P. Davenport

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  1. Peter Johnström
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  2. Tim D. Fryer
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  3. Joseph L. Bird
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  4. Hugh K. Richards
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  5. Anthony P. Davenport
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Correspondence to Peter Johnström .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Addenbrooke's Hospital, Box 110, Clinical Pharmacology Unit, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, United Kingdom

    Anthony P. Davenport

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Johnström, P., Fryer, T.D., Bird, J.L., Richards, H.K., Davenport, A.P. (2012). Dynamic In Vivo Imaging of Receptors in Small Animals Using Positron Emission Tomography. In: Davenport, A. (eds) Receptor Binding Techniques. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 897. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-909-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-909-9_11

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