title: In situ formation of magnetopolymersomes via electroporation for MRI.
abstract: As the development of diagnostic/therapeutic (and combined: theranostic) nanomedicine grows, smart drug-delivery vehicles become ever more critical. Currently therapies consist of drugs tethered to, or encapsulated within nanoparticles or vesicles. There is growing interest in functionalising them with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to target the therapeutics by localising them using magnetic fields. An alternating magnetic field induces remote heating of the particles (hyperthermia) triggering drug release or cell death. Furthermore, MNPs are diagnostic MRI contrast agents. There is considerable interest in MNP embedded vehicles for nanomedicine, but their development is hindered by difficulties producing consistently monodisperse MNPs and their reliable loading into vesicles. Furthermore, it is highly advantageous to "trigger" MNP production and to tune the MNP's size and magnetic response. Here we present the first example of a tuneable, switchable magnetic delivery vehicle for nanomedical application. These are comprised of robust, tailored polymer vesicles (polymersomes) embedded with superparamagnetic magnetite MNPs (magnetopolymersomes) which show good MRI contrast (R2* = 148.8 s(-1)) and have a vacant core for loading of therapeutics. Critically, the magnetopolymersomes are produced by a pioneering nanoreactor method whereby electroporation triggers the in situ formation of MNPs within the vesicle membrane, offering a switchable, tuneable magnetic responsive theranostic delivery vehicle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Brook Hill, Sheffield, S3 7HF.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bain
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University College London, Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ.|MRC/UCL Centre for Medical and Molecular Virology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.|Department of Biomedical science, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Pérez
authors.affiliation: SPiNSN, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN.
authors.forename: Aneurin J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kennerley
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Science, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT.
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Muench
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Science, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University College London, Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ.|MRC/UCL Centre for Medical and Molecular Virology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.|Department of Biomedical science, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Brook Hill, Sheffield, S3 7HF.
authors.forename: Sarah S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Staniland
mesh_terms: D003287:Contrast Media; D018274:Electroporation; D007089:Image Enhancement; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods; D011108:Polymers
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D011108:Polymers