Tags: Drug.
DASB is a compound that binds to the serotonin transporter.Labeled with carbon-11 — a radioactive isotope — it has been used as a radioligand in neuroimaging with positron emission tomography (PET) since around year 2000.In this context it is regarded as one of the superior radioligands for PET study of the serotonin transporter in the brainsince it has high selectivity for the serotonin transporter.The DASB image from a human PET scan shows high binding in the midbrain thalamus and striatum moderate binding in the medial temporal lobe and anterior cingulate and low binding in neocortex.The cerebellum is often regarded as a region with no specific serotonin transporter binding and the brain region is used as a reference in some studies.Since the serotonin transporter is the target of SSRIs used in the treatment of major depression it has been natural to examine DASB binding in depressed patients.Several such research studies have been performed.There are a number of alternative PET radioligands for imaging the serotonin transporter: [11C]ADAM [11C]AFM [11C]DAPA [11C]McN5652 and [11C]-NS 4194.A related molecule to DASB that can be labeled with fluorine-18 has also been suggested as a PET radioligand.
