title: Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction: toward a new strategy for diabetes treatment.
abstract: Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) is a promising technique with an immense target-specific gene delivery potential deep inside the human body. The potential of this technique has recently been confirmed for diabetic patients. This technology allows the genes to transfer specifically into the inefficient pancreas using ultrasound energy without viral vector utilization. It has been speculated that this idea and the advent of modern gene therapy techniques could result in significant future advances. Undoubtedly, this strategy needs further investigation and many critical questions have to be answered before it can be successfully advanced. Herein, we introduce the salient features of this approach, the hurdles that must be overcome, the hopes associated with it and practical constraints to develop this method for diabetes treatment.
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Research Group, Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Department, Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC), P.O. Box 14155-4777, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: mozafari.masoud@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mozafari
authors.affiliation: Islet Cell Transplantation Project, Diabetes Research Center, Research Institute of National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 1-21-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimoda
authors.affiliation: Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032-3802, USA.
authors.forename: Aleksandra M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Urbanska
authors.affiliation: University of Mons, General, Organic and Biomedical Chemistry, NMR and Molecular Imaging Laboratory, Avenue Maistriau, 19, 7000 Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laurent
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006801:Humans; D045423:Microbubbles; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism; D000069453:Ultrasonic Waves