Binding of the PET Radiotracer [¹⁸F]BF227 Does not Reflect the Presence of Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates in Transgenic Mice

Title:Binding of the PET Radiotracer [¹⁸F]BF227 Does not Reflect the Presence of Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates in Transgenic Mice

Volume: 11 Issue: 10

Author(s): Elise Levigoureux, Sophie Lancelot, Caroline Bouillot, Fabien Chauveau, Mathieu Verdurand, Jeremy Verchere, Thierry Billard, Thierry Baron and Luc Zimmer

Affiliation:

Keywords: Alpha-synuclein, brain, neuroimaging, small animal PET, synucleinopathies.

Abstract: Alpha-synuclein (α-syn) aggregation is a neuropathological hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases, collectively termed synucleinopathies. There is currently no pre-mortem diagnosis tool for these diseases. Although some compounds have been described as potential ligands for α-syn aggregates, no specific PET radiotracer of aggregated α-syn is currently available. Recently, [¹⁸F]BF227 has been proposed as an α-syn PET radiotracer in the absence of other specific candidates. We proposed here, for the first time, to use this radiotracer in an accelerated mouse model of synucleinopathy presenting α-syn depositions in brainstem and thalamus. Our in vivo and in vitro studies showed that [¹⁸F]BF227 does not bind to α-syn aggregates. These results highlight the fact that [¹⁸F]BF227 PET has no suitable characteristics for monitoring this experimental synucleinopathy, justifying the need to develop alternative α-syn PET radiotracers.

Cite this article as:

Levigoureux Elise, Lancelot Sophie, Bouillot Caroline, Chauveau Fabien, Verdurand Mathieu, Verchere Jeremy, Billard Thierry, Baron Thierry and Zimmer Luc, Binding of the PET Radiotracer [¹⁸F]BF227 Does not Reflect the Presence of Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates in Transgenic Mice, Current Alzheimer Research 2014; 11 (10) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567205011666141107154201