2024
11C-UCB-J PET imaging is consistent with lower synaptic density in autistic adults
Matuskey D, Yang Y, Naganawa M, Koohsari S, Toyonaga T, Gravel P, Pittman B, Torres K, Pisani L, Finn C, Cramer-Benjamin S, Herman N, Rosenthal L, Franke C, Walicki B, Esterlis I, Skosnik P, Radhakrishnan R, Wolf J, Nabulsi N, Ropchan J, Huang Y, Carson R, Naples A, McPartland J. 11C-UCB-J PET imaging is consistent with lower synaptic density in autistic adults. Molecular Psychiatry 2024, 1-7. PMID: 39367053, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02776-2.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPositron emission tomographySynaptic densityAutistic adultsBrain regionsAutistic featuresClinical phenotype of autismNon-autistic participantsPhenotype of autismNon-autistic individualsRelationship to clinical characteristicsSynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2AAssociated with clinical measuresPost-mortem studiesPositron emission tomography scanPrefrontal cortexClinician ratingsAutism groupNeural basisBrain areasNeural processesBetween-group differencesVolumetric differencesBinding potentialDensity of synapsesAutismChallenges and rewards of in vivo synaptic density imaging, and its application to the study of depression
Asch R, Abdallah C, Carson R, Esterlis I. Challenges and rewards of in vivo synaptic density imaging, and its application to the study of depression. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024, 50: 153-163. PMID: 39039139, PMCID: PMC11525584, DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01913-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchStudies of depressionAnimal models of chronic stressPositron emission tomographyModel of chronic stressSV2A imagingSynaptic densitySignificant depressive symptomsDevelopment of novel radiotracersDepressive symptomsNeuropsychiatric disordersSymptom severityChronic stressDrug challengeSynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 ANeural markersAnimal modelsSynaptic alterationsSynaptogenesis in vivoPreliminary findingsIn vivo quantificationCentral nervous systemDepressionEmission tomographySV2ASV2A positron emission tomographySynaptic loss and its association with symptom severity in Parkinson’s disease
Holmes S, Honhar P, Tinaz S, Naganawa M, Hilmer A, Gallezot J, Dias M, Yang Y, Toyonaga T, Esterlis I, Mecca A, Van Dyck C, Henry S, Ropchan J, Nabulsi N, Louis E, Comley R, Finnema S, Carson R, Matuskey D. Synaptic loss and its association with symptom severity in Parkinson’s disease. Npj Parkinson's Disease 2024, 10: 42. PMID: 38402233, PMCID: PMC10894197, DOI: 10.1038/s41531-024-00655-9.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSynaptic density lossPositron emission tomographyBinds to synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2AAssociated with symptom severityParkinson's diseaseHigh-resolution positron emission tomographySynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2ADuration of illnessPositron emission tomography scanBrain perfusionIllness durationSymptom severitySeverity of symptomsHC groupSubstantia nigraSynaptic densityLiving brainPD individualsClinical insightsDensity lossPD patientsEmission tomographyBrainSynaptic lossSynapse loss
2023
The regional pattern of age-related synaptic loss in the human brain differs from gray matter volume loss: in vivo PET measurement with [11C]UCB-J
Toyonaga T, Khattar N, Wu Y, Lu Y, Naganawa M, Gallezot J, Matuskey D, Mecca A, Pittman B, Dias M, Nabulsi N, Finnema S, Chen M, Arnsten A, Radhakrishnan R, Skosnik P, D’Souza D, Esterlis I, Huang Y, van Dyck C, Carson R. The regional pattern of age-related synaptic loss in the human brain differs from gray matter volume loss: in vivo PET measurement with [11C]UCB-J. European Journal Of Nuclear Medicine And Molecular Imaging 2023, 51: 1012-1022. PMID: 37955791, DOI: 10.1007/s00259-023-06487-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSynaptic densityAge-related decreaseMagnetic resonance imagingBlood flowAge-related synaptic lossGray matter volume lossSynaptic density lossPositron emission tomography (PET) ligandSynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2AVivo PET measurementsMedial occipital cortexGray matter volumeAge-related neurodegenerationGray matter regionsCognitive normal subjectsAge-related changesSynaptic lossNerve terminalsWide age rangeOccipital cortexTomography ligandNormal subjectsGM volumeAge-related functional lossesMatter volumeLinking resting-state network fluctuations with systems of coherent synaptic density: A multimodal fMRI and 11C-UCB-J PET study
Fang X, Volpi T, Holmes S, Esterlis I, Carson R, Worhunsky P. Linking resting-state network fluctuations with systems of coherent synaptic density: A multimodal fMRI and 11C-UCB-J PET study. Frontiers In Human Neuroscience 2023, 17: 1124254. PMID: 36908710, PMCID: PMC9995441, DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1124254.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSynaptic densityRSN activityResting-state network connectivityRSN functional connectivityAnterior default mode networkJ PET studyResting-state fMRIBrain functional organizationDefault mode networkHealthy adult participantsExecutive control networkRSN connectivityFunctional organizationPsychiatric disordersMedial prefrontalSalience networkPET studiesFunctional connectivityHealthy agingFractional amplitudeLow-frequency fluctuationsNeurophysiological linkSynaptic architectureAdult participantsDefault-mode activity
2022
Imaging synaptic density in depression
Holmes SE, Abdallah C, Esterlis I. Imaging synaptic density in depression. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022, 48: 186-190. PMID: 35768568, PMCID: PMC9700860, DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01368-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsMagnetic resonance imagingPositron emission tomographySynaptic restorationSynaptic densityAdministration of ketamineMajor depressive disorderUnderstanding of depressionSynaptic alterationsSynaptic involvementDepressive disorderMonoamine systemsPreclinical workTreatment resistanceEffective treatmentDendritic spinesResonance imagingEmission tomographyHeterogeneous disorderDepressionDisordersMore researchInitial studyGliaKetamineBoutonsImaging the effect of ketamine on synaptic density (SV2A) in the living brain
Holmes SE, Finnema SJ, Naganawa M, DellaGioia N, Holden D, Fowles K, Davis M, Ropchan J, Emory P, Ye Y, Nabulsi N, Matuskey D, Angarita GA, Pietrzak RH, Duman RS, Sanacora G, Krystal JH, Carson RE, Esterlis I. Imaging the effect of ketamine on synaptic density (SV2A) in the living brain. Molecular Psychiatry 2022, 27: 2273-2281. PMID: 35165397, PMCID: PMC9133063, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01465-2.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsKetamine's therapeutic effectsMajor depressive disorderTherapeutic effectPositron emission tomographyPosttraumatic stress disorderHealthy controlsSynaptic connectionsSynaptic vesicle protein 2APost-synaptic mechanismsEffects of ketamineDiscovery of ketamineNon-human primatesAntidepressant effectsDepressive disorderSingle administrationSynaptic densityPsychiatric disordersDepression severityKetamineEmission tomographyTerminal densityLiving brainStress disorderRobust reductionDissociative symptoms
2021
Lower prefrontal cortical synaptic vesicle binding in cocaine use disorder: An exploratory 11C‐UCB‐J positron emission tomography study in humans
Angarita GA, Worhunsky PD, Naganawa M, Toyonaga T, Nabulsi NB, Li C, Esterlis I, Skosnik PD, Radhakrishnan R, Pittman B, Gueorguieva R, Potenza MN, Finnema SJ, Huang Y, Carson RE, Malison RT. Lower prefrontal cortical synaptic vesicle binding in cocaine use disorder: An exploratory 11C‐UCB‐J positron emission tomography study in humans. Addiction Biology 2021, 27: e13123. PMID: 34852401, PMCID: PMC8891080, DOI: 10.1111/adb.13123.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsCocaine use disorderAnterior cingulate cortexRecent cocaine useSynaptic densityMedial orbitofrontal cortexPrefrontal cortexCocaine useOrbitofrontal cortexUse disordersVentromedial prefrontal cortexPositron emission tomography scanPositron emission tomography studyEmission tomography scanSynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2AHealthy control subjectsVolume of distributionEmission tomography studiesAcute cocaineControl subjectsTomography scanCocaine exposurePreclinical studiesHC subjectsDendritic spinesLifetime cocaine useLower synaptic density is associated with psychiatric and cognitive alterations in obesity
Asch RH, Holmes SE, Jastreboff AM, Potenza MN, Baldassarri SR, Carson RE, Pietrzak RH, Esterlis I. Lower synaptic density is associated with psychiatric and cognitive alterations in obesity. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021, 47: 543-552. PMID: 34294874, PMCID: PMC8674236, DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01111-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsStress-related psychiatric disordersBody mass indexLower synaptic densitySynaptic densityPsychiatric disordersPsychiatric diagnosisOverweight/obesityNormal-weight individualsNormal-weight participantsSerious medical conditionPositron emission tomographyStress-related psychopathologyDorsolateral prefrontal cortexOverweight/Mass indexWeight participantsWeight individualsHealthy controlsTension/anxietyAssociated symptomatologyMedical conditionsIntervention development effortsObesityCognitive alterationsPsychiatric groupsIn vivo evidence of lower synaptic vesicle density in schizophrenia
Radhakrishnan R, Skosnik PD, Ranganathan M, Naganawa M, Toyonaga T, Finnema S, Hillmer AT, Esterlis I, Huang Y, Nabulsi N, Carson RE, D’Souza D. In vivo evidence of lower synaptic vesicle density in schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry 2021, 26: 7690-7698. PMID: 34135473, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01184-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSynaptic vesicle densityHealthy controlsVesicle densityHigh-resolution research tomographySynaptic densitySCZ patientsVivo measuresNovel positron emission tomography (PET) ligandGender-matched healthy controlsCumulative antipsychotic exposurePositron emission tomography (PET) ligandSynaptic spine densityPsychosis symptom severityGray matter volumeJ bindingAntipsychotic exposureSpine densityDisease progressionFrontal cortexOccipital cortexTomography ligandTemporal cortexAnterior cingulateVivo findingsParietal cortexIdentifying brain networks in synaptic density PET (11C-UCB-J) with independent component analysis
Fang XT, Toyonaga T, Hillmer AT, Matuskey D, Holmes SE, Radhakrishnan R, Mecca AP, van Dyck CH, D’Souza D, Esterlis I, Worhunsky PD, Carson RE. Identifying brain networks in synaptic density PET (11C-UCB-J) with independent component analysis. NeuroImage 2021, 237: 118167. PMID: 34000404, PMCID: PMC8452380, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118167.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSynaptic densityResting-state functional magnetic resonance imagingSynaptic vesicle protein 2ALevel-dependent signal fluctuationsBrain networksFunctional magnetic resonance imagingMagnetic resonance imagingAge-related changesHealthy controlsResonance imagingRs-fMRIEffects of sexProtein 2AMultiple comparisonsHuman brainAgePotential utilitySexFirst evidenceCovariance patterns
2020
PET Imaging of Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2A
Finnema S, Li S, Cai Z, Naganawa M, Chen M, Matuskey D, Nabulsi N, Esterlis I, Holmes S, Radhakrishnan R, Toyonaga T, Huang Y, Carson R. PET Imaging of Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2A. 2020, 993-1019. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-53176-8_29.ChaptersSynaptic vesicle protein 2APositron emission tomographyAntiepileptic drug levetiracetamInitial PET studiesPET imagingPET studiesSynaptic densityDrug levetiracetamHigh-affinity SV2A ligandsBrain regionsSynaptic density lossNeuropathological diseasesDisease-modifying therapiesLarge patient cohortMajor depressive disorderProtein 2APET imaging resultsPosttraumatic stress disorderPatient groupPatient cohortDepressive disorderClinical valueParkinson's diseaseEfficacy assessmentSynaptic vesicle proteins
2017
389 In Vivo Evidence of Lower Synaptic Density in Depression and Associated Mood and Cognitive Deficits: A [11C]UCB-J PET Imaging Study
Esterlis I, Pietrzak R, DellaGioia N, Matuskey D, Huang H, Krystal J, Duman R, Carson R, Finnema S. 389 In Vivo Evidence of Lower Synaptic Density in Depression and Associated Mood and Cognitive Deficits: A [11C]UCB-J PET Imaging Study. Biological Psychiatry 2017, 81: s159. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.02.406.Peer-Reviewed Original Research