School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(15):2135-51. doi: 10.2174/138161212800099874.
Microbubbles (MBs) are ultrasound responsive colloidal particles with a strong potential to become theranostic agents, combining the contrast agent activity with therapeutic functionality. In the last decades, MBs have played a significant role as ultrasound contrast agents in diagnostic imaging. MBs have also shown great potential in applications such as molecular imaging, drug delivery, gene therapy and sonothrombolysis. A full understanding of all physical processes underlying the MBs' stability and acoustic behavior is available in the literature. Efforts have been now addressed to the study of chemical and biological features of multifunctional lipid, protein, or polymer shelled MBs. A number of methods of preparation of "smart" MBs for ultrasound image-guided therapy have been recently developed. In this review, different approaches utilized in preparing multifunctional MBs are discussed with specific attention to the current strategies adopted to design MBs with specialized functions. In vitro / in vivo assessment of MBs' stability and activity will be discussed with a particular emphasis on the emerging applications of MBs for the multiple imaging modalities, the effective opening of blood brain barrier, BBB, and for the therapeutic treatment of antimicrobial films.
微泡（MBs）是超声响应胶体颗粒，具有很强的成为治疗诊断试剂的潜力，将造影剂活性与治疗功能相结合。在过去的几十年中，MBs 作为超声造影剂在诊断成像中发挥了重要作用。MBs 在分子成像、药物输送、基因治疗和超声溶栓等应用中也显示出巨大的潜力。文献中提供了对 MBs 稳定性和声学行为的所有物理过程的全面理解。目前的研究重点是研究多功能脂质、蛋白质或聚合物壳 MBs 的化学和生物学特性。最近已经开发出了许多用于超声图像引导治疗的“智能”MBs 的制备方法。在这篇综述中，讨论了制备多功能 MBs 的不同方法，并特别关注了为具有特殊功能的 MBs 设计所采用的当前策略。将讨论 MBs 的稳定性和活性的体外/体内评估，特别强调 MBs 在多种成像方式、有效打开血脑屏障、BBB 以及抗菌膜的治疗应用中的新兴应用。
