PET Imaging of Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2A

The synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) is an integral 12-transmembrane domain glycoprotein located in the membrane of synaptic vesicles and widely distributed throughout the brain. In 2004, SV2A was shown to be the molecular target of the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam. High-affinity SV2A ligands have been described by the pharmaceutical company UCB more recently, and this enabled the rapid development of SV2A positron emission tomography (PET) radioligands. Because synaptic vesicle proteins, such as SV2A, have previously been used as biomarkers of synaptic density, PET imaging of SV2A may have broad utility across neuropathological diseases. In this chapter we review the current status of SV2A PET imaging.