Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability

Abstract Neuroimaging of blood-brain barrier permeability has been instrumental in identifying its broad involvement in neurological and systemic diseases. However, current methods evaluate the blood-brain barrier mainly as a structural barrier. Here we developed a non-invasive positron emission tom...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kevin J. Chung, Yasser G. Abdelhafez, Benjamin A. Spencer, Terry Jones, Quyen Tran, Lorenzo Nardo, Moon S. Chen, Souvik Sarkar, Valentina Medici, Victoria Lyo, Ramsey D. Badawi, Simon R. Cherry, Guobao Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58356-7
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850208068787240960
author Kevin J. Chung
Yasser G. Abdelhafez
Benjamin A. Spencer
Terry Jones
Quyen Tran
Lorenzo Nardo
Moon S. Chen
Souvik Sarkar
Valentina Medici
Victoria Lyo
Ramsey D. Badawi
Simon R. Cherry
Guobao Wang
author_facet Kevin J. Chung
Yasser G. Abdelhafez
Benjamin A. Spencer
Terry Jones
Quyen Tran
Lorenzo Nardo
Moon S. Chen
Souvik Sarkar
Valentina Medici
Victoria Lyo
Ramsey D. Badawi
Simon R. Cherry
Guobao Wang
author_sort Kevin J. Chung
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Neuroimaging of blood-brain barrier permeability has been instrumental in identifying its broad involvement in neurological and systemic diseases. However, current methods evaluate the blood-brain barrier mainly as a structural barrier. Here we developed a non-invasive positron emission tomography method in humans to measure the blood-brain barrier permeability of molecular radiotracers that cross the blood-brain barrier through its molecule-specific transport mechanism. Our method uses high-temporal resolution dynamic imaging and kinetic modeling for multiparametric imaging and quantification of the blood-brain barrier permeability-surface area product of molecular radiotracers. We show, in humans, our method can resolve blood-brain barrier permeability across three radiotracers and demonstrate its utility in studying brain aging and brain-body interactions in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver inflammation. Our method opens new directions to effectively study the molecular permeability of the human blood-brain barrier in vivo using the large catalogue of available molecular positron emission tomography tracers.
format Article
id doaj-art-dd058e60c6d14e07ba42a1f97103dd98
institution OA Journals
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-dd058e60c6d14e07ba42a1f97103dd982025-08-20T02:10:19ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111710.1038/s41467-025-58356-7Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeabilityKevin J. Chung0Yasser G. Abdelhafez1Benjamin A. Spencer2Terry Jones3Quyen Tran4Lorenzo Nardo5Moon S. Chen6Souvik Sarkar7Valentina Medici8Victoria Lyo9Ramsey D. Badawi10Simon R. Cherry11Guobao Wang12Department of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Surgery, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthDepartment of Radiology, University of California Davis HealthAbstract Neuroimaging of blood-brain barrier permeability has been instrumental in identifying its broad involvement in neurological and systemic diseases. However, current methods evaluate the blood-brain barrier mainly as a structural barrier. Here we developed a non-invasive positron emission tomography method in humans to measure the blood-brain barrier permeability of molecular radiotracers that cross the blood-brain barrier through its molecule-specific transport mechanism. Our method uses high-temporal resolution dynamic imaging and kinetic modeling for multiparametric imaging and quantification of the blood-brain barrier permeability-surface area product of molecular radiotracers. We show, in humans, our method can resolve blood-brain barrier permeability across three radiotracers and demonstrate its utility in studying brain aging and brain-body interactions in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver inflammation. Our method opens new directions to effectively study the molecular permeability of the human blood-brain barrier in vivo using the large catalogue of available molecular positron emission tomography tracers.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58356-7
spellingShingle Kevin J. Chung
Yasser G. Abdelhafez
Benjamin A. Spencer
Terry Jones
Quyen Tran
Lorenzo Nardo
Moon S. Chen
Souvik Sarkar
Valentina Medici
Victoria Lyo
Ramsey D. Badawi
Simon R. Cherry
Guobao Wang
Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability
Nature Communications
title Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability
title_full Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability
title_fullStr Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability
title_short Quantitative PET imaging and modeling of molecular blood-brain barrier permeability
title_sort quantitative pet imaging and modeling of molecular blood brain barrier permeability
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58356-7
work_keys_str_mv AT kevinjchung quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT yassergabdelhafez quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT benjaminaspencer quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT terryjones quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT quyentran quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT lorenzonardo quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT moonschen quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT souviksarkar quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT valentinamedici quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT victorialyo quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT ramseydbadawi quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT simonrcherry quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability
AT guobaowang quantitativepetimagingandmodelingofmolecularbloodbrainbarrierpermeability