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CD45-PET imaging gives a panoramic view of in vivo immune activity

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 25, page 403 (2025)Cite this article

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Monitoring immune activity across tissues remains a key challenge in both basic and translational immunology. Select immune cell compartments can be visualized with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging using small-molecule-based or antibody-based probes that target specific immune cell markers, such as CD8 for cytotoxic T cells, CD4 for helper T cells and CD11b for myeloid cells. However, these probes do not offer a holistic view of total immune cell activity across the body. To bridge this gap and to offer maximum sensitivity while maintaining high specificity, we developed CD45-PET imaging, a pan-leukocyte imaging modality that targets a protein expressed on all nucleated haematopoietic cells.

CD45-PET imaging uses radioactively labelled antibody fragments, such as nanobodies or minibodies, that specifically target the CD45 antigen expressed on immune cells. Unlike full-length antibodies, these smaller fragments have much shorter half-lives in the blood, enabling high-specificity imaging within hours to a day, reducing patient radiation exposure and simplifying imaging logistics.

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References

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  • Salehi Farid, A. et al. CD45-PET is a robust, non-invasive tool for imaging inflammation. Nature 639, 214–224 (2025)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cancer Immunology and Virology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Sina Djafari Rouhani & Mohammad Rashidian

  2. Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Sina Djafari Rouhani & Mohammad Rashidian

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  1. Sina Djafari Rouhani
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  2. Mohammad Rashidian
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Correspondence to Sina Djafari Rouhani or Mohammad Rashidian.

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Competing interests

M.R. is an inventor on a related patent application (PCT/US2024/020183). S.D.R. declares no competing interests.

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Djafari Rouhani, S., Rashidian, M. CD45-PET imaging gives a panoramic view of in vivo immune activity. Nat Rev Immunol 25, 403 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-025-01183-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-025-01183-0

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