Department of Radiology and Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive, Room H1307, Stanford, CA 94305-5621, USA.
Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2013;14(8):743-52. doi: 10.2174/1389201014666131226114611.
Ultrasound mediated drug delivery using microbubbles is a safe and noninvasive approach for spatially localized drug administration. This approach can create temporary and reversible openings on cellular membranes and vessel walls (a process called "sonoporation"), allowing for enhanced transport of therapeutic agents across these natural barriers. It is generally believed that the sonoporation process is highly associated with the energetic cavitation activities (volumetric expansion, contraction, fragmentation, and collapse) of the microbubble. However, a thorough understanding of the process was unavailable until recently. Important progress on the mechanistic understanding of sonoporation and the corresponding physiological responses in vitro and in vivo has been made. Specifically, recent research shed light on the cavitation process of microbubbles and fluid motion during insonation of ultrasound, on the spatio-temporal interactions between microbubbles and cells or vessel walls, as well as on the temporal course of the subsequent biological effects. These findings have significant clinical implications on the development of optimal treatment strategies for effective drug delivery. In this article, current progress in the mechanistic understanding of ultrasound and microbubble mediated drug delivery and its implications for clinical translation is discussed.
超声介导微泡给药是一种安全、非侵入性的局部给药方法。这种方法可以在细胞膜和血管壁上产生临时的、可逆的开口（称为“声孔”），从而增强治疗剂穿过这些天然屏障的传输。人们普遍认为，声孔过程与微泡的能量空化活动（体积膨胀、收缩、碎裂和崩溃）高度相关。然而，直到最近，人们才对这一过程有了透彻的了解。在体外和体内，人们对声孔和相应生理反应的机制理解取得了重要进展。具体来说，最近的研究揭示了微泡的空化过程和超声辐照期间的流体运动，微泡与细胞或血管壁之间的时空相互作用，以及随后的生物学效应的时间过程。这些发现对开发有效的药物输送治疗策略具有重要的临床意义。本文讨论了超声和微泡介导药物输送的机制理解方面的最新进展及其对临床转化的影响。
