While novel ligands of some purinergic receptors are currently used as pharmacological tools to define and modify actions of these receptor subtypes in the CNS,23 there is still a growing need to clearly understand these receptors’ roles in the brain, specifically as it relates to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has advanced our understanding of the functions of purinergic receptors in healthy and pathological brains.24,25 Herein, we have reviewed the significance of the purinergic receptors in the CNS and accumulated a comprehensive list of the existing PET radioligands that have been used as tools for understanding the functions of these receptors.
