title: Synthesis of Stable Multifunctional Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions for Cancer Therapy and Imaging.
abstract: Nanotechnology provides a promising platform for drug-delivery in medicine. Nanostructured materials can be designed with desired superparamagnetic or fluorescent properties in conjunction with biochemically functionalized moieties (i.e., antibodies, peptides, and small molecules) to actively bind to target sites. These multifunctional properties make them suitable agents for multimodal imaging, diagnosis, and therapy. Perfluorohexane nanoemulsions (PFH-NEs) are novel drug-delivery vehicles and contrast agents for ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging of cancer in vivo, offering higher spatial resolution and deeper penetration of tissue when compared to conventional optical techniques. Compared to other theranostic agents, our PFH-NEs are one of the smallest of their kind (<100 nm), exhibit minimal aggregation, long-term stability at physiological conditions, and provide a noninvasive cancer imaging and therapy alternative for patients. Here, we show, using high-resolution imaging and correlative techniques, that our PFH-NEs, when in tandem with silica-coated gold nanoparticles (scAuNPs), can be used as a drug-loaded therapeutic via endocytosis and as a multimodal imaging agent for photoacoustic, ultrasound, and fluorescence imaging of tumor growth.
authors: Donald A
authors: DA
authors: Fernandes
authors: Department of Physics, University of Toronto , 60 St George Streeet, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada.|Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga , 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.
authors: Dennis D
authors: DD
authors: Fernandes
authors: Department of Physics, University of Toronto , 60 St George Streeet, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada.|Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga , 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.
authors: Yuchong
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Physics, University of Toronto , 60 St George Streeet, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada.|Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga , 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.
authors: Zhenfu
authors: Z
authors: Zhang
authors: Dérick
authors: D
authors: Rousseau
authors: Department of Physics, University of Toronto , 60 St George Streeet, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada.|Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga , 3359 Mississauga Road North, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.
authors: Claudiu C
authors: CC
authors: Gradinaru
authors: Michael C
authors: MC
authors: Kolios