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Nano Research 2018, 11(7): 3710-3721 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1939-y
Research Article | Issue | Published: 02 August 2018

Highly uniform ultrasound-sensitive nanospheres produced by a pH-induced micelle-to-vesicle transition for tumor-targeted drug delivery

Show Author's Information Yiru Wang1,2,§,  Tinghui Yin1,2,§,  Zhenwei Su2,§,  Chen Qiu1,  Yong Wang2,  Rongqin Zheng1,2( ),  Meiwan Chen3,  Xintao Shuai1,2( )
Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Liver Disease and Department of Medical UltrasonicsThe Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou510630China
PCFM Lab of Ministry of EducationSchool of Materials Science and EngineeringSun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou510275China
State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese MedicineInstitute of Chinese Medical SciencesUniversity of MacauMacau999078China

§ Yiru Wang, Tinghui Yin, and Zhenwei Su contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
micelle, polymersome, morphological transition, ultrasound-sensitive, tumor-penetrating delivery
Cite this article:
Wang Y, Yin T, Su Z, et al. Highly uniform ultrasound-sensitive nanospheres produced by a pH-induced micelle-to-vesicle transition for tumor-targeted drug delivery. Nano Research, 2018, 11(7): 3710-3721. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1939-y
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Although gas-filled microbubbles with high echogenicity are widely applied inclinical ultrasonography, the micron scale particle size impedes their use in the treatment of solid tumors, which are accessible to objects less than several hundred nanometers. We herein propose an unusual approach involving apH-induced core–shell micelle-to-vesicle transition to prepare ultrasound-sensitive polymeric nanospheres (polymersomes in structure) possessing multiple features, including nanosize, monodispersity, and incorporation of a phase-transitional imaging agent into the aqueous lumen. These features are not achievable via the conventional double-emulsion method for polymersome preparation. The nanospheres were constructed based on a novel triblock copolymer with dual pH sensitivity. The liquid-to-gas phase transition of the imaging agent induced by external low-frequency ultrasound may destroy the nanospheres for a rapid drug release, with simultaneous tissue-penetrating drug delivery inside a tumor. These effects may provide new opportunities for the development of an effective cancer therapy with few adverse effects.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Highly uniform ultrasound-sensitive nanospheres produced by a pH-induced micelle-to-vesicle transition for tumor-targeted drug delivery

Show Author's information Yiru Wang1,2,§, Tinghui Yin1,2,§, Zhenwei Su2,§, Chen Qiu1, Yong Wang2, Rongqin Zheng1,2( ), Meiwan Chen3, Xintao Shuai1,2( )
Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Liver Disease and Department of Medical UltrasonicsThe Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou510630China
PCFM Lab of Ministry of EducationSchool of Materials Science and EngineeringSun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou510275China
State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese MedicineInstitute of Chinese Medical SciencesUniversity of MacauMacau999078China

§ Yiru Wang, Tinghui Yin, and Zhenwei Su contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Although gas-filled microbubbles with high echogenicity are widely applied inclinical ultrasonography, the micron scale particle size impedes their use in the treatment of solid tumors, which are accessible to objects less than several hundred nanometers. We herein propose an unusual approach involving apH-induced core–shell micelle-to-vesicle transition to prepare ultrasound-sensitive polymeric nanospheres (polymersomes in structure) possessing multiple features, including nanosize, monodispersity, and incorporation of a phase-transitional imaging agent into the aqueous lumen. These features are not achievable via the conventional double-emulsion method for polymersome preparation. The nanospheres were constructed based on a novel triblock copolymer with dual pH sensitivity. The liquid-to-gas phase transition of the imaging agent induced by external low-frequency ultrasound may destroy the nanospheres for a rapid drug release, with simultaneous tissue-penetrating drug delivery inside a tumor. These effects may provide new opportunities for the development of an effective cancer therapy with few adverse effects.

Keywords: micelle, polymersome, morphological transition, ultrasound-sensitive, tumor-penetrating delivery

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 27 September 2017
Revised: 24 November 2017
Accepted: 25 November 2017
Published: 02 August 2018
Issue date: July 2018

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2017

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2015CB755500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. U1401242, 51225305, and 81430038), the Natural Science Foundation of the Guangdong Province (No. 2014A030312018), the Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program (No. 2013S086), and the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund (No. 096/2015/A3).

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