Encapsulating Ionic Liquid and Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles in Gelatin Microcapsules as Microwave Susceptible Agent for MR Imaging-guided Tumor Thermotherapy

Abstract

The combination of therapies and monitoring the treatment process has become a new concept in cancer therapy. Herein, gelatin-based microcapsules have been first reported to be used as microwave (MW) susceptible agent and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast agent for cancer MW thermotherapy. Using the simple coacervation methods, ionic liquid (IL) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were wrapped in microcapsules, and these microcapsules showed good heating efficacy in vitro under MW irradiation. The results of cell tests indicated that gelatin/IL@Fe3O4 microcapsules possessed excellent compatibility in physiological environments, and they could effectively kill cancer cells with exposure to MW. The ICR mice bearing H22 tumors treated with gelatin/IL@Fe3O4 microcapsules were obtained an outstanding MW thermotherapy efficacy with 100% tumor elimination under ultralow density irradiation (1.8 W/cm(2), 450 MHz). In addition, the applicability of the microcapsules as an efficient contrast agent for MR imaging in vivo was evident. Therefore, these multifunctional microcapsules have a great potential for MR imaging-guided MW thermotherapy.

The Fabrication of Fragrance Microcapsules and Their Sustained and Broken Release Behavior

“…It may be able to protect the core materials from the surrounding environment and provide some new applications and release characteristics. Based on these excellent characteristics, microencapsulation has been widely applied in the fields of perfume [1], antimicrobial materials [2], medical materials [3,4], phase-change materials [5], self-healing materials [6], damage sensing [7], flame retardants [8], magnetic materials [9], lubricants [10], and explosives [11], and it has developed a series of valuable products.…”

Engineering encapsulated ionic liquids for next-generation applications

“…135,136 Despite this, the encapsulation of ILs for medical applications has been largely unexplored. One notable effort to exploit encapsulated ILs as agents susceptible to microwaves (MWs) and contrast agents to be used in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for cancer MW thermotherapy was published in 2015 by Du et al 137 The microcapsules, which were composed of [BMIM][BF 4 ] IL and iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles as the core and gelatin as the shell, exhibited strong MW absorbing property owing to the high susceptibility of IL to MW irradiation. 128,[138][139][140] Additionally, the presence of Fe encapsulated IL for tumor therapeutics, while calling for further studies on the topic.…”

Marine-Derived Polymers in Ionic Liquids: Architectures Development and Biomedical Applications

“…The unique physicochemical properties and improved solvating power of ILs allow to dissolve a variety of polysaccharides through the disruption of hydrogen bonding. In particular, many ILs, such as 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ((Emim)OAc)) [ 23 , 24 ], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate((Bmim)(OAc)) [ 25 ], N-butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (BPPF6) [ 26 ], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ((Bmim)(Cl)) [ 27 ], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate ((Emim)(C 2 OSO 3 )), 1-hydrogen-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ((Hmim)(HSO 4 )) [ 28 ], 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ((Bmim)(BF 4 )) [ 29 ], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ((Emim)(Cl)) [ 30 ], and 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium ethyl sulfate ((Emim)(EtSO 4 )) [ 31 ] have been reported in the literature as capable of dissolving many marine polysaccharides, such as alginate, chitin, chitosan, collagen, and gelatin, among others.…”