Synthesis and Characterization of Radiogallium-Labeled Cationic Amphiphilic Peptides as Tumor Imaging Agents.

SVS-1 is a cationic amphiphilic peptide (CAP) that exhibits a preferential cytotoxicity towards cancer cells over normal cells. In this study, we developed radiogallium-labeled SVS-1 (Ga-NOTA-KV6), as well as two SVS-1 derivatives, with the repeating KV residues replaced by RV or HV (Ga-NOTA-RV6 and Ga-NOTA-HV6). All three peptides showed high accumulation in epidermoid carcinoma KB cells (53-143% uptake/mg protein).