Ultrasound-mediated drug delivery by gas bubbles generated from a chemical reaction

Abstract

<p>Highly echogenic and ultrasound-responsive microbubbles such as nitrogen and perfluorocarbons have been exploited as ultrasound-mediated drug carriers. Here, we propose an innovative method for drug delivery using microbubbles generated from a chemical reaction. In a novel drug delivery system, luminol encapsulated in folate-conjugated bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (Fol-BSAN) can generate nitrogen gas (N<sub>2</sub>) by chemical reaction when it reacts with hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>), one of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS plays an important role in the initiation and progression of cancer and elevated ROS have been observed in cancer cells both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. High-intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU) is used to burst the N<sub>2</sub> microbubbles, causing site-specific delivery of anticancer drugs such as methotrexate. In this research, the drug delivery system was optimised by using water-soluble luminol and Mobil Composition of Matter-41 (MCM-41), a mesoporous material, so that the delivery system was sensitive to micromolar concentrations of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. HIFU increased the drug release from Fol-BSAN by 52.9 ± 2.9% in 10 minutes. The cytotoxicity of methotrexate was enhanced when methotrexate is delivered to MDA-MB-231, a metastatic human breast cancer cell line, using Fol-BSAN with HIFU. We anticipate numerous applications of chemically generated microbubbles for ultrasound-mediated drug delivery.</p

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