RGD peptides analogs are the most famous integrins (
αvβ3) targeting vector during the past decades. The integrins (
αvβ3) play a key role in angiogenesis, and angiogenesis is upregulated in various diseases, especially for different types of growing tumors, including neuroblastomas, glioblastomas, prostate, and prostate breast cancers [
60]. The radiolabeled RGD analogs are very abundant, including a series of cyclic RGD analogs such as c(RGDyK) (cyclo(Arg-Gly-Asp-d-Tyr-Lys)), cilengitide (cyclo(RGDf(NMe)V)). Moreover, RGD multimers have been developed for enhancing binding affinity [
61]. Most radiolabeled RGD peptide analogs have provided excellent tumor targeting ability and good imaging quality in animal models [
62,
63]. Multimeric cyclic RGD peptides can improve the integrin receptor binding affinity
in vitro and
in vivo due to the polyvalency effect [
64,
65]. Polyvalency profoundly affects the receptor-binding affinity and
in vivo kinetics [
66]. Li
et al. developed DOTA conjugated RGD tetramer and RGD octamer with
64Cu labeled PET imaging. the RGD octamer had a significantly higher integrin-binding affinity and specificity than the RGD tetramer analog,
64Cu-DOTA-RGD octamer had higher tumor uptake and longer tumor retention than
64Cu-DOTA-RGD tetramer in both tumor models [
67].
18F-labeled Glu-[c(RGDcK)]
2 ([
18F]FRGD
2) and 2-[
18F]-FPA labeled NH
2-PEG
3-Glu-[c(RGDyK)]
2 ([
18F]FPPRGD
2) was approved by clinical investigation (
Fig. 4B) [
68]. Chen
et al. found that the tetrameric RGD peptide tracer
18F-FPRGD4 has significantly higher tumor uptake compared with monomeric and dimeric RGD peptide tracer analogs [
69]. Similarly, Cai
et al. designed
44Sc radiolabeled dimeric cyclic RGD peptide (cRGD)
2 probe chelated with DOTA for non-invasive PET imaging in the U87MG xenograft model [
70]. A 3-fold increase in tumor uptake of
68Ga-TRAP-(RGD)
3 was also revealed in comparison with
68Ga-NODAGA-RGD and [
18F]Galacto-RGD [
71]. Similar works were reported by labeling various radiometals, such as
64Cu,
68Ga and
99mTc [
72].
18F can be directly radiolabeled to the RGD peptide analogs such as [
18F-galacto]-c(RGDfK) and
18F-AH111585 [
60,
73]. By introducing a linker SAA (7-amino-l-glycero-l-galacto-2, 6-anhydro-7-deoxyheptanoic acid) through the side chain of the lysine group from c(RGDfK), the [
18F-galacto]-c(RGDfK) was synthesized. The core peptide sequence of
18F-AH111585 is RGD4C, cyclized
via disulfide bonds. AH111585 consisted of cyclic RGD peptide and flexible linker poly(ethylene glycol) to stabilize the radiolabeled peptide. These two
18F-labeled RGD analogs were now the candidates of radiopharmaceutical for clinical application. Besides
18F, some radiometals can also be directly labeled to the peptide, such as
64Cu,
68Ga,
177Lu,
111In, and
90Y. [
123I]-cyclo(RGDyV) was the first radiolabeled peptide analogs evaluated preclinically in detail. Bifunctional chelators (DTPA, DOTA, NOTA, TETA, and TE2A) are widely applied for efficiency delivering and targeting
in vivo [
74]. For identifying the effects of bifunctional chelators on the radiopharmaceuticals, Yoo
et al. investigated five different
64Cu-labeled chelators conjugated with the same RGD peptide c(RGDyK) by PET imaging (
Fig. 4C) [
75]. These probes with different bifunctional chelators show appreciable differences in tissue uptake and clearance. They found propylene cross-bridged chelators exhibited higher tumor uptake and rapid body clearance.