Circulation and distribution of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs in mice.

<p>ICP-AES analysis of Gd in the blood after tail vein injection of the Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs showed that plasma half-life of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-30 was 2.49±1.27 (A), Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-50 was 1.54±0.29 (B), and Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-100 was 1.58±0.17 (C). The body distribution of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs was determined by [Gd] quantified by ICP-AES 24 hours after administering Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs in mice (D).</p

Chemical analysis of the synthesized phospholipid nanoparticles.

<p>Chemical analysis of the synthesized phospholipid nanoparticles.</p

The effect of the Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-100 on HIFU tumor ablation in the subcutaneous tumor model.

<p>The tumor ablation by HIFU was monitored by gadolinium -enhanced T1-weighted imaging before and after HIFU treatment. The contrast-enhanced images were subtracted from the image before enhancement. The arrow indicates the HIFU orientation (upper panel). The HIFU ablation was also examined by H&E and NADH staining of frozen specimens to confirm the ablated area (lower panel).</p

Chemical characterization of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs.

<p>(A) Design of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN. Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN was Φ = 30, 50, and 100 nm. (B) Paramagnetism of the Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN from SQUID test. (C) Cytotoxicity of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs in MS-1 cells. The cytotoxicity of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN was investigated by MTT assay. Serially diluted cell lysis buffer (RIPA) was used as a positive control. (D) Size-distribution of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs from DLS analysis. (E) In vitro stability of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-50, Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN −100 and SonoVue was calculated from its echogenesity using high-frequency ultrasound.</p

Effect of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN on the hyperthermal property of HIFU in the tissue-mimicking gel phantom.

<p>The phantom was monitored with a video camera while it was sonified for 1 min. The phantom was photographed after HIFU (A). The intensity of white opaque lesion in the phantom was measured as an indication of the hyperthermal effect (B). <i>*P<0.05 (n = 5)</i>, Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-50 and Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-100 significantly increased the hyperthermal effect of HIFU compared to HIFU alone (no PLN).</p

Concentration-dependent effect of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN on the hyperthermal property of HIFU in the tissue-mimicking gel phantom.

<p>The effect of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-50 and Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-100 at different concentrations on the hyperthermal property of HIFU was examined in the phantom (A); the effect was quantified by the intensity of the opaque lesion (B). The Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN concentration was determined by the phospholipid concentration, which is the main component of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN.</p

Accumulation of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs in tumor tissues in mice.

<p>The tumor tissues were monitored with T1-weighted imaging for 8 hours after injection of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-50 (A) and the Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLNs-100 (B). The changes of T1 intensity were plotted in C.</p

H&E analysis of tumor tissues treated with HIFU in the presence or absence of Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-100.

<p>The staining was performed on paraffin-imbedded specimens (upper panel). The dotted area represents the ablated tumor tissue. The ablated area perpendicular to the HIFU direction was measured and shown with histogram (lower panel). <i>*P</i><0.025, the Gd-C₅F₁₂-PLN-100 significantly increased the HIFU-induced tumor ablation (n = 6).</p