Multimodal Imaging Probe Development for Pancreatic β Cells: From Fluorescence to PET

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Molecular Probes
• Diabetes Research

Background:

• Pancreatic beta cells are crucial for insulin secretion and glucose regulation.
• Direct determination of beta cell mass is vital for assessing diabetes status and progression.
• Current diabetes biomarkers like blood glucose and insulin lack direct beta cell mass information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a multimodal probe for specific pancreatic beta cell detection and imaging.
• To enable both fluorescence and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of beta cells.
• To accelerate islet analysis and visualize transplanted islets in vivo.

Main Methods:

• Developed a multimodal pancreatic beta cell probe (PiF) using fluorination and diversity-oriented fluorescence library strategy.
• Administered PiF via tail vein injection for in vivo staining and imaging.
• Utilized 18F-labeled PiF for PET imaging and demonstrated visualization of transplanted islets.

Main Results:

• PiF specifically stains pancreatic beta cells, allowing intraoperative fluorescent imaging of islets.
• PiF facilitated antibody-free islet analysis within 2 hours, significantly reducing traditional histological procedure times.
• The probe enabled in vivo monitoring of intraportal transplanted islets with low liver background.
• Successfully demonstrated in situ PET imaging of pancreatic islets using 18F-labeled PiF.

Conclusions:

• The multimodal probe PiF offers a novel approach for specific pancreatic beta cell detection and imaging.
• PiF significantly accelerates islet analysis and enables non-invasive monitoring of transplanted islets.
• This technology holds promise for improved diagnosis, monitoring, and research in diabetes.