Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
Division of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
Adv Mater. 2024 Jul;36(28):e2307106. doi: 10.1002/adma.202307106. Epub 2024 Mar 15.
Nanotechnology offers significant advantages for medical imaging and therapy, including enhanced contrast and precision targeting. However, integrating these benefits into ultrasonography is challenging due to the size and stability constraints of conventional bubble-based agents. Here bicones, truly tiny acoustic contrast agents based on gas vesicles (GVs), a unique class of air-filled protein nanostructures naturally produced in buoyant microbes, are described. It is shown that these sub-80 nm particles can be effectively detected both in vitro and in vivo, infiltrate tumors via leaky vasculature, deliver potent mechanical effects through ultrasound-induced inertial cavitation, and are easily engineered for molecular targeting, prolonged circulation time, and payload conjugation.
纳米技术为医学成像和治疗带来了显著优势，包括增强对比度和精准靶向。然而，由于传统基于气泡的试剂的尺寸和稳定性限制，将这些益处整合到超声中具有挑战性。在此描述了基于气穴（GVs）的真正微小的声学对比剂-双锥体，这是一类独特的充满空气的蛋白质纳米结构，在浮力微生物中自然产生。结果表明，这些亚 80nm 的颗粒可以在体外和体内有效检测，通过渗漏的血管渗透到肿瘤中，通过超声诱导的惯性空化产生强大的机械效应，并可以轻松地进行分子靶向、延长循环时间和有效载荷结合的工程设计。
