Sonopharmacology: controlling pharmacotherapy and diagnosis by ultrasound-induced polymer mechanochemistry

Abstract

Ultrasound is an important tool for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in the clinic. We here survey recent efforts to exploit the principles of polymer mechanochemistry for ultrasound-guided drug delivery and activation – sonopharmacology.

Mechanochemistry of dynamic chalcogen-containing polymers: a minireview

“…3a: chalcogen radicals are generated first when external force is applied, then the radicals will be transferred to the chalcogen-hydrogen group by reactions with the solvent, and designed specific reactions for drug release can be initialized. 13,69 The pioneering work was reported by Herrmann, Go ¨stl, and coworkers in 2020. 70 In this work, a disulfide-centred poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate) (POEGMEA) was synthesized as the mechano-responsive polymer by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and the thiol generated upon sonication could undergo Michael addition to Diels-Alder (DA) adducts of an acetylene dicarboxylate derivative and a furan-containing drug molecule.…”

“…3a: chalcogen radicals are generated first when external force is applied, then the radicals will be transferred to the chalcogen–hydrogen group by reactions with the solvent, and designed specific reactions for drug release can be initialized. 13,69…”

Breast tumor‐targeted drug delivery via polymer nanocarriers: Endogenous and exogenous strategies

“…158,160 Polymer mechanochemistry, which exploits ultrasound to control polymer transformations at the molecular scale, has recently emerged to construct targeted nanocarriers. 161,162 Demonstrated transformations include the breaking of covalent bonds such as azo 163 and disulfides, 164,165 and the dissociation of noncovalent structures such as doublestranded DNA 166,167 and metal-ligand complexes. [168][169][170] 3 | TARGETED POLYMERIC NANOCARRIERS…”

Controlled Degradation of Polycaprolactone Polymers through Ultrasound Stimulation

“…These stimuli-responsive polymeric platforms allow for specific control over the time and location (spatiotemporal control) of degradation and drug delivery. Thermally modulated polymer-based hydrogels and photocleavable polymeric systems have successfully been used for gene and drug delivery. , As an alternative external stimulus, focused ultrasound has been successfully applied to induce chain scission, prolong fragmentation, and control release from polymer-based systems. − …”

“…These thermo-responsive linkages have been used to release payloads from nanoparticles , and hydrogels . Diels–Alder crosslinking networks have been rationally engineered in both polymers , and hydrogels . Reversible Diels–Alder linkages have successfully undergone retrograde reactions for controlled release, by application of light activation for siRNA release, , alternating magnetic field for release of model payloads and siRNA, ,, and focused ultrasound for release of model proteins …”