Theranostic Vesicles Based on Bovine Serum Albumin and Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Anticancer Drug Delivery

Abstract

Presented in this article is the preparation of a new theranostic vesicle which exhibits excellent in vitro and in vivo T1 magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast effect and good anticancer drug delivery ability. The theranostic vesicle has been easily prepared based on an amphiphilic biocompatible and biodegradable dibock copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PEG-b-PLGA) and bovine serum albumin-gadolinium (BSA-Gd) complexes. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) measurements confirmed the formation and physiological stability of BSA-Gd@PEG-b-PLGA vesicles. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo MR imaging experiments revealed their excellent T1-weighted MR imaging function. Red blood cell hemolysis and cytotoxicity experiments confirmed their good blood compatibility and low cytotoxicity. Doxorubicin (DOX) loading and release experiments indicated a more retarded release rate of DOX in those theranostic vesicles than sole PEG-b-PLGA nanoparticles without BSA. Overall, this new biocompatible and biodegradable vesicle shows promising potential in theranostic applications.

Folate-molecular encapsulator-tethered biocompatible polymer grafted with magnetic nanoparticles for augmented drug delivery

“…Improvement of magnetic properties and toxicity are some of the parameters sought through the endeavour of testing new MNPs [7]. Another challenge is the development of coating polymers, which combine biocompatibility and ability to escape macrophage uptake [8][9][10]. In addition, the overall size of the polymer-coated MNPs should be of a desirable range (>20 nm and <100 nm) as MNPs larger than 100 nm are rapidly cleared by the liver and spleen [11] and MNPs of size below 10 nm can be cleared by renal filtration [12].…”

Well‐Defined Protein‐Based Supramolecular Nanoparticles with Excellent MRI Abilities for Multifunctional Delivery Systems

“…Such good advantages made albumin be widely used in biochemical fields such as drug‐binding systems, diabetes detecting, gene delivery, and MRI . Bovine serum albumin (BSA), an important blood protein, was employed to chelate with Gd or Au ions to form biomineralized nanohybrids for multimodal imaging . Protein–polymer conjugates display a unique combination of properties derived from both the natural and synthetic materials to elicit a desired effect.…”

Polymer Vesicles: Modular Platforms for Cancer Theranostics

“…For example, by combining chemotherapy with MR imaging modules, a rationally designed theranostic polymer vesicle with an enhanced T 2 MRI effect and drug‐delivery capacity was prepared, which demonstrated both high T 2 relaxivity and anticancer‐drug (DOX) loading efficiency with low cytotoxicity. [5b] Another theranostic vesicle was prepared by the self‐assembly of a poly(ethylene glycol)‐ block ‐poly(L‐lactic‐ co ‐glycolic acid) (PEG‐ b ‐PLGA) diblock copolymer, in which both bovine‐serum‐albumin–gadolinium (BSA–Gd) nanohybrids and doxorubicin were encapsulated simultaneously . In vitro and in vivo T 1 ‐weighted MR imaging of nude mice produced excellent images of xenografted tumors.…”