MicroPET, MicroSPECT, and NIR Fluorescence Imaging of Biomolecules In Vivo

Molecular imaging is a newly merged multidisciplinary subject that requires contributions from biology, medical physics, and chemistry/radiochemistry. Integrin α_v β₃ , a cell adhesion molecule, plays pivotal roles in regulating tumor angiogenesis and the growth of new blood vessels. In this chapter, we use the cell adhesion molecule integrin α_v β₃ as an example to demonstrate how one can synthesize appropriate arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (RGD) peptide-containing probes for visualizing and quantifying the receptor expression in vivo by means of microPET, microSPECT, and NIR fluorescence.