With the aim of obtaining a carrier for combined magnetic‐field‐ and ultrasound‐targeted nucleic acid delivery, acoustically active lipospheres are prepared that comprise magnetic nanoparticles and plasmid DNA or synthetic siRNA. The lipospheres, with average diameters of 5 μm and smaller, are obtained upon shaking a mixture of soybean oil, a cationic lipid, magnetic nanoparticles, a nucleic acid, and aqueous buffer in a perfluoropropane atmosphere in a sealed vial. These lipospheres create contrast in ultrasound imaging and display greatly increased magnetophoretic mobility and in consequence greatly improved magnetic retention in a flow model when compared with free magnetic nanoparticles. In cell culture, the lipospheres are sedimented within minutes to the surface of cells using a gradient magnetic field. This sedimentation results in the association of about 50% of the applied plasmid DNA with the cells and in functional DNA and siRNA delivery in vitro. Under these conditions, ultrasound does not have an enhancing effect on nucleic acid delivery. When magnetic, acoustically active lipospheres carrying 125iodine‐labeled plasmid DNA are injected into the tail veins of mice, the application of a gradient magnetic field to the chests of the mice results in a two‐ to threefold enrichment of both lung lobes with the plasmid. A similar enrichment is obtained when ultrasound alone (1 MHz, 10 min) is applied. The combined application of magnetic field and ultrasound has no synergistic effect in terms of liposphere capture in the lungs. Histological analysis reveals intact lipospheres in lung capillaries. A synergistic effect of magnetic field and ultrasound is observed in site‐specific plasmid deposition in a dorsal skinfold chamber model in mice after injection into the carotis. These conditions also result in functional plasmid delivery to the vasculature after intrajugular injection.

No abstract

Side effects on cardiac ion channels are one major reason for new drugs to fail during preclinical evaluation. Herein we propose a simple optogenetic screening tool measuring extracellular field potentials (FP) from paced cardiomyocytes to identify drug effects over the whole physiological heart range, which is essential given the rate-dependency of ion channel function and drug action. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were transduced with an adeno-associated virus to express Channelrhodopsin2 and plated on micro-electrode arrays. Global pulsed illumination (470 nm, 1 ms, 0.9 mW/mm2) was applied at frequencies from 1 to 2.5 Hz, which evoked FP simultaneously in all cardiomyocytes. This synchronized activation allowed averaging of FP from all electrodes resulting in one robust FP signal for analysis. Field potential duration (FPD) was ~25% shorter at 2.5 Hz compared to 1 Hz. Inhibition of hERG channels prolonged FPD only at low heart rates whereas Ca2+ channel block shortened FPD at all heart rates. Optogenetic pacing also allowed analysis of the maximum downstroke velocity of the FP to detect drug effects on Na+ channel availability. In principle, the presented method is well scalable for high content cardiac toxicity screening or personalized medicine for inherited cardiac channelopathies.

Cardiovascular disease is often caused by endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction and atherosclerotic plaque formation at predilection sites. Also surgical procedures of plaque removal cause irreversible damage to the EC layer, inducing impairment of vascular function and restenosis. In the current study we have examined a potentially curative approach by radially symmetric re-endothelialization of vessels after their mechanical denudation. For this purpose a combination of nanotechnology with gene and cell therapy was applied to site-specifically re-endothelialize and restore vascular function. We have used complexes of lentiviral vectors and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to overexpress the vasoprotective gene endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in ECs. The MNP-loaded and eNOS-overexpressing cells were magnetic, and by magnetic fields they could be positioned at the vascular wall in a radially symmetric fashion even under flow conditions. We demonstrate that the treated vessels displayed enhanced eNOS expression and activity. Moreover, isometric force measurements revealed that EC replacement with eNOS-overexpressing cells restored endothelial function after vascular injury in eNOS(-/-) mice ex and in vivo. Thus, the combination of MNP-based gene and cell therapy with custom-made magnetic fields enables circumferential re-endothelialization of vessels and improvement of vascular function.

Magnetized aerosols present themselves as an efficient approach for targeted pulmonary delivery of drugs and gene therapeutic agents in order to treat localized diseases of the deeper airways.