Rapid short-pulses of focused ultrasound and microbubbles deliver a range of agent sizes to the brain.

Focused ultrasound and microbubbles can non-invasively and locally deliver therapeutics and imaging agents across the blood-brain barrier. Uniform treatment and minimal adverse bioeffects are critical to achieve reliable doses and enable safe routine use of this technique. Towards these aims, we have previously designed a rapid short-pulse ultrasound sequence and used it to deliver a 3 kDa model agent to mouse brains.

Liposome delivery to the brain with rapid short-pulses of focused ultrasound and microbubbles.

Liposomes are clinically used drug carriers designed to improve the delivery of drugs to specific tissues while minimising systemic distribution. However, liposomes are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and enter the brain, mostly due to their large size (ca. 100 nm).

Modulation of amyloid-β aggregation by metal complexes with a dual binding mode and their delivery across the blood-brain barrier using focused ultrasound.

One of the key hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the aggregation of the amyloid-β peptide to form fibrils. Consequently, there has been great interest in studying molecules that can disrupt amyloid-β aggregation. While a handful of molecules have been shown to inhibit amyloid-β aggregation , there remains a lack of data reported due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Combination Strategies to Improve Targeted Radionuclide Therapy.

In recent years, targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer treatment. In contrast to conventional radiotherapy, TRT delivers ionizing radiation to tumors in a targeted manner, reducing the dose that healthy tissues are exposed to. Existing TRT strategies include the use of Lu-DOTATATE, I-metaiodobenzylguanidine, Bexxar, and Zevalin, clinically approved agents for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, neuroblastoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, respectively.

Molecular recognition of bisphosphonate-based drugs by di-zinc receptors in aqueous solution and on gold nanoparticles.

Metal-based anion receptors have several important applications in sensing, separation and transport of negatively charged species. Amongst these receptors, di-zinc(ii) complexes are of particular interest for the recognition of oxoanions, in particular phosphate derivatives. Herein we report the synthesis of a di-zinc(ii) receptor and show that it has high affinity and selectivity for bisphosphonates such as alendronate and etidronate - which are used to treat a number of skeletal disorders as well as showing interesting anticancer properties.

Neuron labeling with rhodamine-conjugated Gd-based MRI contrast agents delivered to the brain via focused ultrasound.

Gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents can provide information regarding neuronal function, provided that these agents can cross the neuronal cell membrane. Such contrast agents are normally restricted to extracellular domains, however, by attaching cationic fluorescent dyes, they can be made cell-permeable and allow for both optical and magnetic resonance detection. To reach neurons, these agents also need to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Rapid Short-pulse Ultrasound Delivers Drugs Uniformly across the Murine Blood-Brain Barrier with Negligible Disruption.

Background Previous work has demonstrated that drugs can be delivered across the blood-brain barrier by exposing circulating microbubbles to a sequence of long ultrasound pulses. Although this sequence has successfully delivered drugs to the brain, concerns remain regarding potentially harmful effects from disrupting the brain vasculature. Purpose To determine whether a low-energy, rapid, short-pulse ultrasound sequence can efficiently and safely deliver drugs to the murine brain.

Targeted Delivery of DNA-Au Nanoparticles across the Blood-Brain Barrier Using Focused Ultrasound.

Nanoparticles have been widely studied as versatile platforms for in vivo imaging and therapy. However, their use to image and/or treat the brain is limited, as they are often unable to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). To overcome this problem, herein we report the use of focused ultrasound in vivo to successfully deliver DNA-coated gold nanoparticles to specific locations in the brains of mice.