School of Biomedical Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Imaging Department, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2019 Apr;2(2):e1154. doi: 10.1002/cnr2.1154. Epub 2018 Dec 21.
In the past decade, trackable smart drug delivery systems have played important roles in the treatment of many diseases such as cancer because the drug carriers can be visualized through their distinct physical properties. However, it is still difficult to achieve precise drug delivery because such systems usually rely on a single imaging system.
This study aimed to present a novel type of multimodality imaging-guided strategy to visualize the drug carriers of eccentric magnetic microcapsule (EMM) designed for potential treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
The EMMs were prepared by using a three-phase microfluidic device. The as-prepared EMMs embedded with FeO nanoparticles are magnetic, with high density and acoustic impedance, allowing for visualization by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and ultrasound (US) imaging during local injection. The release of drug from these EMMs can be further controlled by an external electromagnetic field (EMF). As a proof of concept, we demonstrated the process of multimodality imaging to guide local injection and the controlled release of doxorubicin (DOX) from the EMMs in a phantom. We showed that the release rate of DOX was directly correlated to the strength of the EMF. In addition, we cocultured green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transfected HeLa cancer cells with the DOX-loaded EMMs and documented their apoptosis by DOX following the release triggered by EMF.
The results suggest that these EMMs serve both as contrast agents that can be visualized by multimodality imaging techniques and as smart drug delivery systems, with great potential for precision medicine.
在过去的十年中，可追踪的智能药物输送系统在治疗癌症等许多疾病方面发挥了重要作用，因为药物载体可以通过其独特的物理特性进行可视化。然而，由于这些系统通常依赖于单一的成像系统，因此仍然难以实现精确的药物输送。
本研究旨在提出一种新型的多模态成像引导策略，以可视化设计用于治疗肝细胞癌（HCC）的偏心磁性微胶囊（EMM）的药物载体。
使用三相微流控装置制备 EMM。所制备的 EMM 嵌入了 FeO 纳米颗粒，具有磁性、高密度和超声阻抗，允许通过磁共振成像（MRI）、计算机断层扫描（CT）和超声（US）成像在局部注射时进行可视化。这些 EMM 中药物的释放可以通过外部电磁场（EMF）进一步控制。作为概念验证，我们演示了多模态成像引导局部注射和从 EMM 中控制释放阿霉素（DOX）的过程在体模中。我们表明，DOX 的释放速率与 EMF 的强度直接相关。此外，我们将转染绿色荧光蛋白（GFP）的 HeLa 癌细胞与负载 DOX 的 EMM 共培养，并通过 EMF 触发的释放后记录 DOX 诱导的细胞凋亡。
结果表明，这些 EMM 既可以作为可以通过多模态成像技术可视化的造影剂，也可以作为智能药物输送系统，为精准医学提供了巨大的潜力。
