Tau Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging: Past, Present, and Future

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia among the elderly population. The good correlation of the density and neocortical spread of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) with clinical AD disease progression offers an opportunity for the early diagnosis and staging using a noninvasive imaging technique such as positron emission tomography (PET). Thus, PET imaging of NFTs not only holds promise as a diagnostic tool but also may enable the development of disease modifying therapeutics for AD. In this review, we focus on the structural diversity of tau PET tracers, the challenges related to the identification of high affinity and highly selective NFT ligands, and recent progress in the clinical development of tau PET radioligands.