Silver bullets for tumours and heart disease
Exploiting nanotechnology and nanomaterials for targeted drug release could significantly improve the treatment of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease with reduced side-effects and faster recovery. Scientists supported in part by EU funding of the project 'Image-controlled ultrasound-induced drug delivery' (SONODRUGS) developed nanoparticulate drug carriers. These nanoparticulates will release their payloads in response to one of two ultrasound-induced stimuli — pressure or temperature changes. Using ultrasound under guidance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) , researchers were able to locally induce and quantify drug delivery from liposomal nanocarriers modified with MRI contrast agents. In addition, ultrasound contrast agents (also called microbubbles) enhanced localised drug uptake through a process called sonoporation on application of ultrasound. Sonoporation is the local and temporary increase in porosity of blood vessels in the target organ. Researchers assessed their efficacy using in vitro and in vivo tests. Pre-clinical studies demonstrated up to three-fold reduction in tumour growth when MR-high intensity focused ultrasound enabled doxorubicin (drug)-release from liposomes at the site-of-interest. Ultrasound-mediated drug delivery of a low-density lipoprotein (LDL)–cholesterol production modulator co-administered with polymer microbubbles reduced the required dose by 100-fold for fighting cardiovascular disease. SONODRUGS delivered image-controlled, ultrasound-induced, targeted drug delivery systems enabling localised release and enhanced uptake of agents to fight cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The exciting results have led to 8 patents and over 40 publications in prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals. Moreover, SONODRUGS won the “Best Project” award at the EuroNanoForum 2013 in Dublin. Project outcome is an important step towards a possible future commercialisation of this minimally invasive and maximally effective technology to treat diseases.
