Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2008 Jun;13(2):163-73.
doi: 10.1007/s10741-007-9068-4.

Noninvasive imaging of apoptosis in cardiovascular disease

Ethan Chauncey Korngold  1 , Farouc Amin Jaffer, Ralph Weissleder, David Edwin Sosnovik
Affiliations
Review

Noninvasive imaging of apoptosis in cardiovascular disease

Ethan Chauncey Korngold et al. Heart Fail Rev. 2008 Jun.

Abstract

Recent advances in molecular imaging have permitted the noninvasive imaging of apoptosis, a critical process underlying the pathogenesis of many diseases of the cardiovascular system including atherosclerotic vascular disease, myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury, chronic heart failure, myocarditis, and cardiac allograft rejection. Multiple molecular targets including phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and caspases have been targeted by a variety of imaging agents and modalities such as nuclear scintigraphy, PET, MRI, and fluorescent and bioluminescent imaging. Translationally, methods utilizing radiolabeled annexin V have proven promising in several clinical trials of ischemia-reperfusion injury and cardiac allograft rejection. New approaches using novel molecular imaging agents show great potential for the ability to image apoptosis in the research and clinical setting. Ultimately the ability to detect apoptosis noninvasively would help to identify patients for emerging anti-apoptotic therapies and guide clinical management with the aim of maximal myocardial preservation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pathways of apoptosis. Apoptosis in cardiomyocytes can be mediated by mitochondria (blue shaded area), in a pathway initiated by the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol, or through the death-receptor pathway. The net result of both these pathways is to activate caspase-3, the final effector enzyme of apoptosis. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [11]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
In vivo imaging of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in mice by MRI. Apoptosis was induced by transient coronary ligation, following which reperfusion was established. The annexin V-labeled magnetofluorescent nanoparticle, AnxCLIO-Cy5.5, was injected at 2 mg Fe/kg into the tail vein of the mice upon coronary reperfusion. Accumulation of the probe in the hypokinetic anterolateral wall produced strong negative contrast enhancement (arrows). No evidence of probe accumulation was seen when the mice where injected with the unlabeled CLIO-Cy5.5 probe. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [32]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Imaging of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in acute myocardial infarction with 99mTc-annexin V. Combination of acute 99mTc-MIBI (left 2 columns) and 99mTc annexin V uptake (right 2 columns) in area at risk on day 1 in a patient presenting with acute MI. 99mTc-MIBI perfusion defects in anteroseptal and apical region (open arrows) correlate well with 99mTc-annexin V activity (grey arrows). Adapted and reproduced with permission from Ref. [21]
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Diffuse myocardial uptake of 99mTc-annexin V in cardiac allograft rejection. SPECT imaging 3 h after intravenous injection of radiolabeled annexin V demonstrated diffuse myocardial uptake of radiotracer, suggesting extensive apoptosis in the myocardium and transplant rejection. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [20]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Jaffer FA, Weissleder R. Molecular imaging in the clinical arena. JAMA. 2005;293(7):855–862. - PubMed
    1. Sosnovik DE, Weissleder R. Emerging concepts in molecular MRI. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2006 - PubMed
    1. Weissleder R. Molecular imaging in cancer. Science. 2006;312(5777):1168–1171. - PubMed
    1. Jaffer FA, Weissleder R. Seeing within: molecular imaging of the cardiovascular system. Circ Res. 2004;94(4):433–445. - PubMed
    1. Narula J, Kietselaer B, Hofstra L. Role of molecular imaging in defining and denying death. J Nucl Cardiol. 2004;11(3):349–357. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms