Integrated micro/nano drug delivery system based on magnetically responsive phase-change droplets for ultrasound theranostics

Jieying Chen; Chan Zhao; Hao Liu; Zhangchao Wang; Luyao Ma; Jiamin Zhang; Ning Xu; Ke Hu; Lei Duan

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2024.1323056

Integrated micro/nano drug delivery system based on magnetically responsive phase-change droplets for ultrasound theranostics

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2024 Apr 11:12:1323056. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1323056. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jieying Chen¹, Chan Zhao², Hao Liu¹, Zhangchao Wang³, Luyao Ma¹, Jiamin Zhang¹, Ning Xu⁴, Ke Hu¹, Lei Duan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
² Department of Clinical Medical Engineering, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
³ Stomatological College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Phase-change droplets (PCDs) are intelligent responsive micro and nanomaterials developed based on micro/nano bubbles. Subject to external energy inputs such as temperature and ultrasound, the core substance, perfluorocarbon (PFC), undergoes a phase transition from liquid to gas. This transformation precipitates alterations in the PCDs' structure, size, ultrasound imaging capabilities, drug delivery efficiency, and other pertinent characteristics. This gives them the ability to exhibit "intelligent responses". This study utilized lipids as the membrane shell material and perfluorohexane (PFH) as the core to prepare lipid phase-change droplets. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles (PEG-functionalized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles) and the anti-tumor drug curcumin (Cur) were loaded into the membrane shell, forming magnetic drug-loaded phase-change droplets (Fe-Cur-NDs). These nanoscale phase-change droplets exhibited excellent magnetic resonance/ultrasound imaging capabilities and thermal/ultrasound-mediated drug release. The Fe-Cur-NDs showed excellent anti-tumor efficacy for the MCF-7 cells under low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) guidance in vitro. Therefore, Fe-Cur-NDs represent a promising smart responsive theranostic integrated micro/nano drug delivery system.

Keywords: controlled drug release; magnetic nanoparticles; magnetic resonance imaging; microbubbles; phase-change droplets; ultrasound imaging.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the project of National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFA0210104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81701833), Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students in Jiangsu Province (202210312062Y).