Landau Lab

Methods/PET

PET: the living brain

Positron emission tomography follows a radiolabelled tracer in the living brain, over time and in the same animal.

01 What PET sees

What PET measures, and what it can't

[11C]yohimbine PET parametric maps of a minipig brain in three views, at baseline, 8 minutes and 4 hours after nisoxetine; colour scale 2.0 to 6.0 mL/ccm.PET

In vivo · the living brain

PET

Measures
Where a radiolabelled tracer goes in the living brain, over time. With kinetic modelling, that becomes a quantitative measure of binding to a target.
Strength
Non-invasive and repeatable in the same animal — before and after treatment, or as disease develops. The same method is used in people.
Alone, can't
Resolve fine anatomical detail, or say which cellular change lies behind a change in binding.

[11C]yohimbine VT maps in a minipig at baseline and after nisoxetine, a drug that raises noradrenaline. Landau et al., Biomolecules 2023 · doi:10.3390/biom13040674 · CC BY 4.0, cropped.

02 Where we scan

The lab, TNU and the PET facilities

The Landau Lab is a research group in the Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit (TNU), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University. Since 2022, TNU has been located at Aarhus University Hospital, which supports collaboration with clinical research departments.

Sources: TNU PI page · About TNU

Anne M. Landau was affiliated with the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Aarhus University Hospital for almost 20 years, as a postdoc and later as assistant and associate professor. The lab continues a close collaboration there: we carry out radioligand binding studies, use its human PET scanners for our minipig studies, and the BeaQuant real-time autoradiography system is at its PET Preclinical Facility. Collaborations in radiochemistry, MRI, molecular biology, histology and neurosurgery support tracer development and validation, experimental interventions and interpretation of imaging findings.

Sources: TNU: BeaQuant · TNU PI page

Ex vivoAutoradiography & tissue analysesBinding on brain sections, at fine detailRead →Ex vivoReal-time autoradiographyHow the BeaQuant reads tritium tracers on brain sections in hoursRead →FunctionBehaviourWhat animals do, linked to molecular changeRead →ModelsRodents and minipigsChoosing the model for the questionRead →OverviewMethods overviewHow the methods fit together, and selected methods papers.Back →