Research progress in micro/nanobubbles for ultrasound diagnosis or treatment / 药学学报

In the past few decades, microbubbles were widely used as ultrasound contrast agents in the field of tumor imaging. With the development of research, ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction technology combined with drug-loaded microbubbles can achieve precise drug release and play a therapeutic role. As a micron-scale carrier, microbubbles are difficult to penetrate the endothelial cell space of tumors, and nano-scale drug delivery system—nanobubbles came into being. The structure of the two is similar, but the difference in size highlights the unique advantages of nanobubbles in drug delivery. Based on the classification principle of shell materials, this review summarized micro/nanobubbles used for ultrasound diagnosis or treatment and discussed the possible development directions, providing references for the subsequent development.

Experimental study on preparation and targeting in vitro of nanobubbles with two-fold amount of folate / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective To investigate the selective targeting ability of a novel folate-modified nanobubbles with two-fold amount of folate [(FOL)2-NBs] . Methods DSPE-PEG2000-AD-(FOL)2with two-fold of folate per DSPE-PEG2000 chain was synthesized and then tested by 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) . The novel (FOL)2-NBs was prepared using the mechanical shaking method based on lipid-stabilized perfluoropropane . The bubble size was measured by Malvern laser particle size analyzer and the contrast enhancement ability was also detected with imaging machine using a self-made agarose mold . The experiment of selective targeting ability was also carried out in human breast cancer MCF-7 cell with over-expression of folate receptor ( FR) using fluorescence activated cell sorting ( FACS) . Results The result of 1H NMR proved that DSPE-PEG2000-AD-( FOL )2was successfully synthesized ,and the purity reached up to 90% . The novel prepared ( FOL) 2-NBs showed superior contrast enhancement ability with a particle size of ( 286 .87 ± 22 .96) nm . Compared with the conventional NBs ,the novel ( FOL) 2-NBs exhibited improved selective cellular targeting ability proven by FACS . Conclusions A novel nanobubble with improved selective targeting ability is successfully prepared and shows great potential in extravascular imaging and curation in FR overexpressed tumors .