In March 2000 I came to England to start a PhD, and pet went from meaning a small animal you kept at home to meaning Positron Emission Tomography. There were months where my timetable was set by the half-life of iodine-124 (4.16 h), and my mind was occupied by the relative merits and problems with direct and indirect labelling of annexin V.
It has therefore pleased me to be able to commission a few protocols for radiolabeling molecules that could be used for PET or SPECT imaging.
The very first one that we published was:
Preparation of N-succinimidyl 3-[*I]iodobenzoate: an agent for the indirect radioiodination of proteins
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.99.html
And now, in our most recent batch, we have published a group of three protocols for radiolabelling peptides and proteins with fluorine-18 using the silicon fluoride acceptor (SiFA) approach. Common to both the iodine and the fluorine radiolabelling is that a lot of effort is expended making a precursor with a labile group that will rapidly be exchanged for the radioactive ion. You want the radiolabelling reaction to go quickly and cleanly so that both the reaction and the purification can be performed in the shortest time possible maximising the amount of the radiotracer that can be used for your experiments.
The SiFA approach is almost miraculous, because it relies on the fact that for this extraordinary moiety fluorine-18 will replace the stable isotope, fluorine-19. Shown below is the reaction scheme for labelling peptides.
The three SiFA protocols are:
One-step 18F-labeling of peptides for positron emission tomography imaging using the SiFA methodology
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v7/n11/full/nprot.2012.109.html
Synthesis of [18F]SiFB: a prosthetic group for direct protein radiolabeling for application in positron emission tomography
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v7/n11/full/nprot.2012.110.html
Protein labeling with the labeling precursor [18F]SiFA-SH for positron emission tomography
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v7/n11/full/nprot.2012.111.html
Here is a complete list of Nature Protocols that involve radiolabelling with isotopes suitable for PET or SPECT imaging:
Carbon-11, PET
Labeling of aliphatic carboxylic acids using [11C]carbon monoxide
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.112.html
Tagging recombinant proteins with a Sel-tag for purification, labeling with electrophilic compounds or radiolabeling with 11C
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.87.html
Fluorine-18, PET
One-step 18F-labeling of peptides for positron emission tomography imaging using the SiFA methodology
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v7/n11/full/nprot.2012.109.html
Synthesis of [18F]SiFB: a prosthetic group for direct protein radiolabeling for application in positron emission tomography
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v7/n11/full/nprot.2012.110.html
Protein labeling with the labeling precursor [18F]SiFA-SH for positron emission tomography
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v7/n11/full/nprot.2012.111.html
Synthesis of N-succinimidyl 4-[18F]fluorobenzoate, an agent for labeling proteins and peptides with 18F
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n4/full/nprot.2006.264.html
Preparation of 18F-labeled peptides using the copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v6/n11/full/nprot.2011.390.html
PET imaging of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) or mutant HSV1-sr39tk reporter gene expression in mice and humans using [18F]FHBG
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n6/full/nprot.2006.459.html
Molecular PET imaging of HSV1-tk reporter gene expression using [18F]FEAU
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v2/n2/full/nprot.2007.49.html
Copper-64, PET
Preparation of carbon nanotube bioconjugates for biomedical applications
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v4/n9/full/nprot.2009.146.html
Radiolabeling of TETA- and CB-TE2A-conjugated peptides with copper-64
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n6/full/nprot.2006.431.html
Gallium-68, PET
Facile radiolabeling of monoclonal antibodies and other proteins with zirconium-89 or gallium-68 for PET imaging using p-isothiocyanatobenzyl-desferrioxamine
https://www.nature.com/protocolexchange/protocols/412
Conjugation of DOTA-like chelating agents to peptides and radiolabeling with trivalent metallic isotopes
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.175.html
Yttrium-86, PET
Conjugation of DOTA-like chelating agents to peptides and radiolabeling with trivalent metallic isotopes
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.175.html
Zirconium-89, PET
Conjugation and radiolabeling of monoclonal antibodies with zirconium-89 for PET imaging using the bifunctional chelate p-isothiocyanatobenzyl-desferrioxamine
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v5/n4/full/nprot.2010.13.html
Technetium-99m, SPECT
Radiolabeling of HYNIC–annexin V with technetium-99m for in vivo imaging of apoptosis
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n1/full/nprot.2006.17.html
Methods for MAG3 conjugation and 99mTc radiolabeling of biomolecules
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n3/full/nprot.2006.262.html
An improved synthesis of NHS-MAG3 for conjugation and radiolabeling of biomolecules with 99mTc at room temperature
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v2/n4/full/nprot.2007.144.html
Indium-111, SPECT
Conjugation of DOTA-like chelating agents to peptides and radiolabeling with trivalent metallic isotopes
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.175.html
Iodone-124 / Iodine-125, PET / SPECT
Preparation of N-succinimidyl 3-[*I]iodobenzoate: an agent for the indirect radioiodination of proteins
https://www.nature.com/nprot/journal/v1/n2/full/nprot.2006.99.html