11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
▼ [10a-S402-9] A Comparative Study of Radioisotope Imaging Tracers and Fluorescent Imaging Tracers Used in Biological and Medical Studies
Keywords:radioisotope tracer, fluorescent tracer, molecular imaging
Molecular Imaging (MI) has grown into an indispensable tool in biological research, clinical trials, and medical practices. Taking the advantages of biological indicators such as fluorescent and radioisotope tracers, it is now possible to visualize and quantify biological processes happening at cellular and sub-cellular levels. Clinical practice has seen spectacular advances in the developing radiopharmacy and enjoyed the quantitative accuracy of devices such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT), etc. However, researchers are reluctant to use radioisotopes in biological studies back in the laboratory as fluorescent tracers are relatively more accessible and have no risk of radiation exposure. Nevertheless, modifications of original biological molecules with fluorophores tend to notably alter the conformation of the molecules involved in biological processes as substrates of enzymes and transporters, rendering them unable to precisely tracing the natural processes in cells and tissues. This research will focus on the glucose-analog tracers used in cancer studies and compare fluorescent tracers 2-DG-750 and 2-NBDG with radioisotope tracer 18F-DG. Our results show that fluorophores disrupt the participation of fluorescent tracers in biological processes, making them not as accurate as 18F-DG in reflecting metabolism alterations that are important in cancer studies and clinical practices.