Wu P.J., Liu T.Y.
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University of Taiwan (ROC), TW
Keywords: amphiphilic, drug delivery systems (DDSs), Fluorescence, magnetic resonance (MR), pH-sensitive, self-assembly
Recently, in order to combine diagnosis with therapy in a single box, drug delivery systems (DDSs) associating with imaging functions were developed to improve the efficacy of diseases detection, delivery of therapeutic agents, and the track of distribution of the drug vehicles. Image-guided DDSs could be detected and tracked via diagnostic imaging systems.Because each imaging technology has distinct advantages and limitations, there has been growing interest in combining two or more complementary imaging techniques to probe an agent with multimodal imaging functionality.Many remotely trigger stimuli, such as electricity, magnetic field and pH, have been employed to trigger vehicle. Drug vehicle with pH triggered behavior show promise for clinical application because the pH value of lysosome is 5.5. In this study, a remotely triggered drug vehicle, amphiphilic chitosan (ACS)-Fe3O4/ZnO micelle, was developed to encapsulate hydrophobic agent, exhibit pH-sensitive release behavior and demonstrate dual-modal imaging functionality. The (ACS)-Fe3O4/ZnO micelles consisting of amphiphilic chitosan (ACS), iron oxide nanoparticles and zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared by using self-assembly route. These results suggest that the ACS-Fe3O4/ZnO micelles could be applied not only for the pH-sensitive drug carriers to encapsulate hydrophobic agents but also act as a multimodal probe for photoluminescence and magnetic resonance imaging.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2012: Bio Sensors, Instruments, Medical, Environment and Energy (Volume 3)
Published: June 18, 2012
Pages: 76 - 78
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Medical & Biotech
Topic: Biomaterials
ISBN: 978-1-4665-6276-9