  The $D$-meson production is investigated by considering the unintegrated
gluon distribution within the dipole approach in the momentum representation.
We analyze the $D$-meson spectrum accounting for the effects of nonlinear
behavior of the QCD dynamics which can be accordingly addressed in the dipole
framework. The unintegrated gluon distribution is obtained by using geometric
scaling property and the results are compared to the Glauber-Gribov framework.
The absolute transverse momentum spectra and the nuclear modification ratios
are investigated. Predictions are compared with the experimental measurements
by the ALICE and LHCb Collaborations in $pA$ collisions for different rapidity
bins.
