Interactions Between Targeted Ultrasound Contrast Agents With Anti-Human Interleukin 8 Monoclonal Antibody and Activated Endothelial Cells.

The study aimed to explore the role of interleukin 8 (IL-8) in atherosclerotic plaques and develop a new method for the evaluation of endothelial function by assessing the interactions between the injured endothelial cells and the targeted ultrasound agent that carried anti-human IL-8 monoclonal antibody. Anti-human IL-8 monoclonal antibodies were associated to the shells of SonoVue microbubbles by covalent conjugation technology. The specific interaction between the microbubbles and the normal or injured endothelial cells was observed using an inverted microscope. The microbubble adherence was quantified by calculating the ratio of the adherent microbubbles to endothelial cells. The results were compared with the control microbubbles. There were rare adherences of control microbubbles to the normal or injured endothelial cells, whereas the targeted microbubbles could adhere to endothelial cells well. Importantly, compared with the normal endothelial cells, a significantly higher number of targeted microbubbles bound to the injured endothelial cells. The ultrasound agents with anti-human IL-8 monoclonal antibody can specifically bind to the injured endothelial cell, which provides a new insight to the noninvasive detection of endothelial dysfunction using ultrasound imaging techniques.