18F-THK523

**18F-THK523** is a radiopharmaceutical PET imaging agent specifically designed to visualize tau pathology, primarily neurofibrillary tangles, in vivo. It is a low molecular weight, electrically neutral, lipophilic small molecule labeled with the radioisotope fluorine-18. The mechanism of action is selective binding to paired helical filament tau found in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with high affinity and selectivity for tau compared to amyloid-β and α-synuclein. It does not bind tau aggregates characteristic of non-AD tauopathies (such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, or Pick’s disease), indicating conformation selectivity for tau pathology seen in AD brains. The agent was pioneered by a research team led by Nobuyuki Okamura and further characterized in preclinical and human studies for its binding and imaging properties. High retention in white matter somewhat limits its clinical utility due to reduced image contrast. Its primary indication is for PET imaging research and diagnostics in Alzheimer’s disease, enabling the monitoring of disease progression and evaluation of therapeutic interventions[1][2][3][4][7][8][9].

Brand names

18F-THK523

Other names

18F-THK523[18F]-THK523THK523THK-523THK 523