Development of apoptosis imaging in vivo

While the diagnosis and treatment of diseases has entered the molecular level,apoptosis detection techniques are also continuously updated and developed,including magnetic resonance imaging,optical imaging,ultrasound and radionuclide imaging.Apoptosis plays a key role in the pathogenesis of many disorders including cerebral and myocardial ischemia,autoimmune neurodegenerative diseases,infections,organ and bone marrow transplant rejection,and tumor response to therapy.Several of these molecular steps have been evaluated to date,including phosphatidylserine exposure at the extracellular faces of the plasma membrane,detected by protein such as annexin V,caspase activation in the intracellular compartment,detected by labeled enzyme substrates or inhibitors,etc.Therefore,the physician could much better use this information to optimize the therapy.It is consistent with the characteristics of physiological metabolism.It is proven that apoptosis imaging in vivo imaging is early,non-invasive and quantitative.