Rapid synthesis of carbon materials by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method at low temperature and its adsorption properties for uranium (VI)

The cathelicidin-derived peptide (CDP1) is a human antimicrobial peptide that preferentially targets bacterial membranes in response to infection. CDP1 was functionalised with NODAGA and DOTA for complexation with gallium-68 to evaluate its potential as an infection imaging tracer. The synthesis of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–NODAGA–CDP1 and [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–CDP1 were optimised for pH, molarity, incubation time and temperature, and product purification. The integrity and protein binding were investigated employing [⁶⁸Ga]GaCl₃ and [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–TATE as internal references. [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–NODAGA–CDP1 displayed good labelling properties with higher product yield compared to [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–CDP1. In contrast, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–CDP1 showed better stability and is the preferred candidate for an in vivo investigation.