Weissleder: Molecular Imaging: Principles and Practice

The field of molecular imaging of living subjects has evolved considerably and has seen spectacular advances in chemistry, engineering and biomedical applications. This textbook was designed to fill the need for an authoritative source for this multi-disciplinary field. We have been fortunate to recruit over 80 leading authors contributing 75 individual chapters. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the field, the book is broken into six different sections: Molecular Imaging technologies , Chemistry , Molecular Imaging in Cell and Molecular Biology , Applications of Molecular Imaging , Molecular Imaging in Drug Evaluation with the final section comprised of chapters on computation, bioinformatics and modeling. The organization of this large amount of information is logical and strives to avoid redundancies among chapters. It encourages the use of figures to illustrate concepts and to provide numerous molecular imaging examples.

Molecular Imaging: Radiopharmaceuticals for PET and SPECT

Radioisotope-based molecular imaging probes provide unprecedented insight into biochemistry and function involved in both normal and disease states of living systems, with unbiased in vivo measurement of regional radiotracer activities offering very high specificity and sensitivity. No other molecular imaging technology including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can provide such high sensitivity and specificity at a tracer level. The applications of this technology can be very broad ranging from drug development, pharmacokinetics, clinical investigations, and finally to routine diagnostics in radiology. The design and the development of radiopharmaceuticals for molecular imaging studies using PET/MicroPET or SPECT/MicroSPECT are a unique challenge.
This book is intended for a broad audience and written with the main purpose of educating the reader on various aspects including potential clinical utility, limitations of drug development, and regulatory compliance and approvals.

Molecular Imaging for Integrated Medical Therapy and Drug Development by N. Tamaki (Springer) 2010

Molecular imaging has been employed in many fields. It combines the disciplines of molecular biology, radiochemistry, pharmacology, instrumentation, and clinical medicine into a new imaging paradigm. In particular, molecular imaging plays an important role in drug discovery and advanced medical practice. Serial assessments of molecular and cellular function are commonly used as surrogate markers of various new treatments. In this sense, molecular imaging has developed in parallel with the progress of drug development and new medical treatments.
Hokkaido University has launched the Matching Program for Innovations in Future Drug Discovery and Medical Care. This program aims to establish a center for drug discovery and medical care through molecular imaging technologies. The central pillars are our world-leading technologies in glycoprotein pharmaceuticals and optical and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging technology. The program helps our university contribute to society by improving the quality of life for patients, by creating new industries that use novel technologies, and by fostering internationally minded innovators who are able to launch new businesses. Placing particular importance on industry-academia collaboration, we have also established the Frontier Research Center for Post-Genome Science and Technology, as well as the Research Center for Cooperative Projects. With the creation of these facilities, the establishment of a core organization for drug discovery and medical care has been greatly promoted.
They have had an international symposium together with leading world specialists regarding molecular imaging for integrated medical therapy. The symposium “Molecular Imaging for Integrated Medical Therapy” held March 13–14, 2009, at Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, was a joint symposium of “The 6th Symposium for Future Drug Discovery and Medical Care” and “Symposium of the Research Center for Cooperative Projects”. At the symposium, more than 150 physicians and scientists attended to share our new experiences in molecular imaging for drug development and advanced medical therapy.

Contents
Advances in Molecular Imaging
PART I NEW MOLECULAR IMAGING AND IMAGE-GUIDED RADIOTHERAPY

• Hypoxia Imaging for Image-Guided Radiotherapy
• Molecular Imaging for the Assessment of Tumor Malignancy and Response to Therapy
• Development of a Prototype 3D PET Scanner Using Semiconductor Detectors and Depth of Interaction Information
• A New PET Scanner with Semiconductor Detector Reveals Intratumoral Inhomogeneous Cell Activity with High Spatial and Energy Resolution
• A New Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scanner with Semiconductor Detectors for Target Volume Delineation and Radiotherapy Treatment Planning in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
• Initial Performance Measurement of an Integrated PET/SPECT/CT
• System for Small-Animal Imaging
• Molecular Imaging of Atherosclerotic Plaque Vulnerability: Comparison between 18F-FDG and 99mTc-annexin A5
• Quantification of Myocardial Blood Flow Using Rubidium-82 PET

PART II MOLECULAR IMAGING FOR REGENERATIVE TREATMENT

• New Concepts for Molecular and Functional Imaging of the Heart: Implications for Regenerative Treatments
• Molecular Imaging of Angiogenesis
• Spontaneous In Vivo Regeneration of the Articular Cartilage Using a Novel Double-Network Hydrogel
• Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Transplantation for Central Nervous System Disorders: Perspectives for Translational Research and Clinical Application
• Noninvasive Optical Tracking of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Transplanted into Rat Cerebral Infarct
• Thermoreversible Gelation Polymer (TGP) Hydrogel as a Degradable Scaffold for Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Transplantation
• Beneficial Effects of Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Transplantation on Axonal Regeneration in Injured Spinal Cord
• Transplanted Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Improve Cognitive Function after Diffuse Axonal Injury in Rats

PART III MOLECULAR IMAGING AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF BRAIN RESEARCH

• Ultra-High Throughput Screening (uHTS) Chemical Genetics to Identify Novel Chronotherapeutics
• Cell Death and Autophagy
• Bioluminescent Imaging for Assessing Heterogeneous Cell Functions in the Mammalian Central Circadian Clock
• Early Postnatal Stress and the Serotonergic System in the Brain
• Neural Circuit Development and Plasticity Shaped by Glutamate Transporters
• Molecular and Functional Imaging for Drug Development and Elucidation of Disease Mechanisms Using Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

PART IV RECENT TRENDS IN DRUG DEVELOPMENTS

• The Sea as a Source of New Drugs
• PET/AMS Applications in Drug Development
• Functional and Structural Analysis Reveals Dual Function on C-Terminal a Helix of Alg13 Protein
• Discovery of a First-in-Class Drug, a Prostaglandin D2 Antagonist, for the Treatment of Allergic Diseases
• Towards Developing a Golgi Simulator: Microfluidic Device Enabling Synthesis of a Tetrasaccharide
• An Efficient Strategy for the Exploration of Specific Inhibitors of Sialyltransferases

Keyword Index