PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gyu Seong Heo
AU  - Lanlan Lou
AU  - Deborah Sultan
AU  - Yongjian Liu
TI  - The Latest Advances in Imaging Crosstalk Between the Immune System and Fibrosis in Cardiovascular Disease
AID  - 10.2967/jnumed.120.255539
DP  - 2021 Apr 01
TA  - Journal of Nuclear Medicine
PG  - jnumed.120.255539
4099  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/04/16/jnumed.120.255539.short
4100  - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/04/16/jnumed.120.255539.full
AB  - Inflammation and fibrosis are hallmarks of tissue repair process and organ failure progression in cardiovascular diseases. Paradigm-shifting research on diverse immune cell populations within the cardiovascular system have enabled discovery of new biomarkers fostering development of diagnostic and therapeutic agents at the molecular level to better manage cardiovascular diseases. To date, a variety of molecular imaging agents have been developed to visualize the biomarkers expressed on immune cells and fibroblasts within their crosstalk network, which drives the pathogenesis of fibrosis triggered by both innate and adaptive immunity. Herein, key biomarkers up-regulated in the immune-fibrosis axis are discussed. The promising molecular imaging agents to reveal this critical pathological process are summarized.