Comb-Like Fluorophilic-Lipophilic-Hydrophilic Polymers for Nanocapsules as Ultrasound Contrast Agents

Biomacromolecules. 2018 Aug 13;19(8):3244-3256. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.8b00506. Epub 2018 Jul 24.

Abstract

Imaging the enhanced permeation and retention effect by ultrasound is hindered by the large size of commercial ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs). To obtain nanosized UCAs, triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol)-polylactide-poly(1 H,1 H,2 H,2 H-heptadecafluorodecyl methacrylate) (PEG-PLA-PFMA) with distinct numbers of perfluorinated pendant chains (5, 10, or 20) are synthesized by a combination of ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization. Nanocapsules (NCs) containing perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) intended as UCAs are obtained with a 2-fold increase in PFOB encapsulation efficiency in fluorinated NCs as compared with plain PEG-PLA NCs thanks to fluorous interactions. NC morphology is strongly influenced by the number of perfluorinated chains and the amount of polymer used for formulation, leading to peculiar capsules with several PFOB cores at high PEG-PLA-PFMA20 amount and single-cored NCs with a thinner shell at low fluorinated polymer amount, as confirmed by small-angle neutron scattering. Finally, fluorinated NCs yield higher in vitro ultrasound signal compared with PEG-PLA NCs, and no in vitro cytotoxicity is induced by fluorinated polymers and their degradation products. Our results highlight the benefit of adding comb-like fluorinated blocks in PEG-PLA polymers to modify the nanostructure and enhance the echogenicity of nanocapsules intended as UCAs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acrylates / chemistry
  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Contrast Media / chemistry*
  • Contrast Media / pharmacology
  • Fluorine Compounds / chemistry*
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Macrophages / drug effects
  • Mice
  • Nanocapsules / chemistry*
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry
  • Ultrasonography / methods*

Substances

  • Acrylates
  • Contrast Media
  • Fluorine Compounds
  • Nanocapsules
  • monomethoxypolyethyleneglycol-polylactide block copolymer
  • Polyethylene Glycols