TY - JOUR T1 - Recent Advances in the Molecular Imaging of Programmed Cell Death: Part I—Pathophysiology and Radiotracers JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 1659 LP - 1662 DO - 10.2967/jnumed.112.108944 VL - 53 IS - 11 AU - Francis G. Blankenberg AU - H. William Strauss Y1 - 2012/11/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/53/11/1659.abstract N2 - In humans, apoptosis (programmed cell death) is the most common form of cell death after necrosis. Apoptosis is a series of genetically preprogrammed biochemical and morphologic energy-requiring events that, after a specific external or internal stimulus, results in the physiologic disappearance of a cell via its self-disintegration and packaging of its contents into membrane vesicles called apoptotic bodies. Apoptotic bodies can readily be ingested, with their nutrients and even organelles recycled by neighboring cells or phagocytes without local inflammation. In contrast, necrosis is characterized by the primary loss of plasma membrane integrity and the uncontrolled release of a cell’s contents, often causing local inflammation, tissue damage, and scarring. Alternate forms of cell death also exist, associated with specific molecular mechanisms involving enzymes, organelles, genes, external stimuli, or blockade of normal cell proliferation. In this review we will briefly outline the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis that can be imaged with radiotracers now under development. ER -