Controlled Release of Therapeutics from Thermoresponsive Nanogels: A Thermal Magnetic Resonance Feasibility Study

YIYI JI ; LUKAS WINTER; LUCILA NAVARRO; MIN-CHI KU ; JOAO PERIQUITO ; MARCELO CALDERON; THORALF NIENDORF

Cancers

MDPI

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2020 vol. 12

2072-6694

ThermalMagnetic Resonance (ThermalMR) accommodates radio frequency (RF) inducedtemperature modulation, thermometry, anatomic and functional imaging and(nano)molecular probing in an integrated RF applicator. This study examines thefeasibility of ThermalMR for controlled release of a model therapeutics fromthermoresponsive nanogels using a 7.0 tesla whole-body MR scanner en-route tolocal drug delivery based anti-cancer treatment. The capacity of ThermalMR isdemonstrated in a model system involving the release of fluorescein-labelledbovine serum albumin (BSA-FITC, a model therapeutic) from nanometer scalepolymeric networks. These networks contain thermoresponsive polymers thatbestow environmental responsiveness to physiologically relevant changes intemperature. The release profile obtained for the reference data derived from awater bath setup used for temperature stimulation is in accordance with therelease kinetics deduced from the ThermalMR setup. In conclusion, ThermalMRadds a thermal intervention dimension to an MRI device and provides an idealtestbed for the study of temperature-induced release of drugs, MR probes andother agents from thermoresponsive carriers. Integrating diagnostic imaging,temperature intervention and temperature response control, ThermalMR is conceptuallyappealing for the study of the role of temperature in biology and disease andfor the pursuit of personalized therapeutic drug delivery approaches for betterpatient care.