TSPO-PET imaging using [18F]PBR06 is a potential translatable biomarker for treatment response in Huntington's disease: preclinical evidence with the p75NTR ligand LM11A-31

Hum Mol Genet. 2018 Aug 15;27(16):2893-2912. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddy202.

Abstract

Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder that has no cure. HD therapeutic development would benefit from a non-invasive translatable biomarker to track disease progression and treatment response. A potential biomarker is using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with a translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) radiotracer to detect microglial activation, a key contributor to HD pathogenesis. The ability of TSPO-PET to identify microglial activation in HD mouse models, essential for a translatable biomarker, or therapeutic efficacy in HD patients or mice is unknown. Thus, this study assessed the feasibility of utilizing PET imaging with the TSPO tracer, [18F]PBR06, to detect activated microglia in two HD mouse models and to monitor response to treatment with LM11A-31, a p75NTR ligand known to reduce neuroinflammation in HD mice. [18F]PBR06-PET detected microglial activation in striatum, cortex and hippocampus of vehicle-treated R6/2 mice at a late disease stage and, notably, also in early and mid-stage symptomatic BACHD mice. After oral administration of LM11A-31 to R6/2 and BACHD mice, [18F]PBR06-PET discerned the reductive effects of LM11A-31 on neuroinflammation in both HD mouse models. [18F]PBR06-PET signal had a spatial distribution similar to ex vivo brain autoradiography and correlated with microglial activation markers: increased IBA-1 and TSPO immunostaining/blotting and striatal levels of cytokines IL-6 and TNFα. These results suggest that [18F]PBR06-PET is a useful surrogate marker of therapeutic efficacy in HD mice with high potential as a translatable biomarker for preclinical and clinical HD trials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Disease Progression
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / administration & dosage
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / chemistry
  • Hippocampus / diagnostic imaging
  • Hippocampus / metabolism
  • Hippocampus / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Huntington Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Huntington Disease / drug therapy
  • Huntington Disease / genetics
  • Huntington Disease / pathology
  • Isoleucine / administration & dosage
  • Isoleucine / analogs & derivatives
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Microglia / drug effects
  • Morpholines / administration & dosage
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Protein Binding
  • Receptors, GABA / administration & dosage*
  • Receptors, GABA / chemistry
  • Receptors, GABA / genetics
  • Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / genetics*

Substances

  • LM11A-31
  • Morpholines
  • Receptors, GABA
  • Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor
  • Ngfr protein, mouse
  • TSPO protein, human
  • Isoleucine
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18