Engineering the Acoustic Response and Drug Loading Capacity of PBCA-Based Polymeric Microbubbles with Surfactants

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00416
• Publication Date: 2022-07-29T20:26:15Z
• Authors: Roman A. Barmin; Anshuman Dasgupta; Céline Bastard; Laura De Laporte; Stephan Rütten; Marek Weiler; Fabian Kiessling; Twan Lammers; Roger M. Pallares
• Keywords: Surface Modification

Gas-filled microbubbles (MB) are routinely used in the clinic as ultrasound contrast agents. MB also increasingly explored drug delivery vehicles based on their stimuli-responsiveness and well-established shell functionalization routes. Broadening range of properties can enhance performance both imaging applications. This be promoted by systematically varying reagents synthesis MB, which case polymeric include surfactants. We therefore set out to study effect key surfactant characteristics, such chemical structure, molecular weight, hydrophilic–lipophilic balance formation poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) (PBCA) well properties, including thickness, loading capacity, contrast, acoustic stability. Two different families (i.e., Triton X Tween) were employed, show opposite weight vs trends. For types, we found that thickness PBCA increased with higher-molecular-weight surfactants resulting thicker shells showed higher capacities Furthermore, proportion smaller polymer chains X-based (as compared those Tween-based ones) resulted lower entanglement, improving capacity response. These findings open up new avenues fine-tune polymer-based for enhanced