Biologically and Acoustically Compatible Chamber for Studying Ultrasound-Mediated Delivery of Therapeutic Compounds

Abstract

Ultrasound (US), in combination with microbubbles, has been found to be a potential alternative to viral therapies for transfecting biological cells. The translation of this technique to the clinical environment, however, requires robust and systematic optimization of the acoustic parameters needed to achieve a desired therapeutic effect. Currently, a variety of different devices have been developed to transfect cells in vitro, resulting in a lack of standardized experimental conditions and difficulty in comparing results from different laboratories. To overcome this limitation, we propose an easy-to-fabricate and cost-effective device for application in US-mediated delivery of therapeutic compounds. It comprises a commercially available cell culture dish coupled with a silicon-based "lid" developed in-house that enables the device to be immersed in a water bath for US exposure. Described here are the design of the device, characterization of the sound field and fluid dynamics inside the chamber and an example protocol for a therapeutic delivery experiment.

Spectral imaging toolbox: segmentation, hyperstack reconstruction, and batch processing of spectral images for the determination of cell and model membrane lipid order

“…Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) made of dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine (DOPC), brain sphingomyelin (brain SM), and cholesterol from Avanti Polar Lipids were produced in a 2:2:1 molar ratio by electroformation by a modification of the protocol proposed by Angelova et al [10, 26]. Phospholipid shelled microbubbles with a 9:1 molar ratio of 1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC, Avanti Polar Lipids, USA) and polyoxyethylene (40) stearate (PEG40S, Sigma Aldrich, UK) were produced using a batch sonication protocol previously reported [27]. Samples were labelled with either C-Laurdan (400 nM for A-549 cells and 100 nM for GUVs and microbubbles) or Di-4-AN(F)EPPTEA (FE) (100 nM for GUVs) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).…”

Sonobactericide: An Emerging Treatment Strategy for Bacterial Infections

“…Microbubbles were delivered into canals and insonified with a P5 Newtron dental ultrasonic hand piece (28 to 36 kHz ultrasound) for 1 min. Horsley et al (2019) employed a bladder organoid model using a modified acoustically compatible chamber (Carugo et al 2015). Briefly, a polycarbonate filter insert (12 mm diameter) cultured with infected human bladder cells was fixed between an Ibidi culture dish (35 mm) and a polydimethylsiloxane lid.…”

Nanoparticle‐Loaded Protein–Polymer Nanodroplets for Improved Stability and Conversion Efficiency in Ultrasound Imaging and Drug Delivery

“…In addition paclitaxel‐loaded HSA nanoparticles (mpHSA) and free paclitaxel were tested for comparison. Previously, we have developed acoustically and biologically compatible chambers for ultrasound‐mediated delivery of therapeutic compounds to cancer cells . A schematic of the set‐up is illustrated in Figure a.…”