Novel PET/CT tracers for targeted imaging of membrane receptors to evaluate cardiomyocyte apoptosis and tissue repair process in a rat model of myocardial infarction

The purpose of this study was to employ novel tracers PET imaging approach to define the time course and intensity of myocardial repair after apoptosis and to correlate the imaging signal to immunohistochemical staining in myocardial infarction (MI). We designed novel αVβ3-targeted and radio-functionalized tracers for detection of apoptosis in H9C2 cells and myocardial tissue. MI rats were imaged with [18F]FDG, [18F]ANP-Cin or [18F]ANP-RGD2...