Ultrasound Assisted in Tumor Immunotherapy

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Targeting and Design".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2024 | Viewed by 1146

Special Issue Editors

Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Interests: ultrasound; microbubble; nanodroplet; drug delivery; tumor microenvironment; immunotherapy; ischemia-reperfusion injury
Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Interests: ultrasound contrast agent; tumor microenvironment; biomedical applications of shear wave elastography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tumor immunotherapy hottest issue in modern cancer research. Systemic anti-tumor immunomodulation has been developed by various strategies to improve the treatment outcomes in metastatic or drug/radiation-resistant tumors. Ultrasound provides not only real-time diagnosis but also local therapy which has been widely applied in cancer therapeutic applications. The acoustic thermal or cavitation effect (with ultrasound-responsive particles) promotes antigen production and immune cell activation, in addition to activating immune cell infiltration with the aim of accomplishing anti-tumor immunotherapy. Moreover, the application of ultrasound technology combined with immune-activated drugs/genes/gases has been proposed as possibility regulating the tumor microenvironment from a state of immunosuppression into immunoactivation. Thus, we consider that ultrasound-induced thermal or cavitation effect provided a potential way to promote anti-tumor immune responses via tumor microenvironment modulation.

This Special Issue aims to highlight all the latest developments in “ultrasound-assisted in tumor immunotherapy”.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Ultrasound-induced immunotherapy and immune cell activation;
  • Fabrication of immune-activated drug-loaded ultrasound-responsive particles;
  • Acoustic thermal or cavitation effect for tumor immunotherapy;
  • Immune responses induced by sonodynamic therapy;
  • Focused ultrasound for immunomodulation in tumor microenvironment;
  • Immune responses after focused ultrasound induced blood–brain barrier opening;
  • Ultrasound-mediated tumor vaccination.

I/We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Yi-Ju Ho
Dr. Wei-Wen Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • ultrasound
  • immunotherapy
  • tumor microenvironment
  • thermal effect
  • cavitation effect
  • micro/nano-bubble
  • micro/nano-droplet
  • permeability
  • therapeutics

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 7382 KiB  
Article
Novel Nanoprobe with Combined Ultrasonography/Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Precise Diagnosis of Tumors
by Jieqiong Ding, Liu He, Lin Yang, Liyuan Cheng, Zhiwei Zhao, Binhua Luo and Yanlong Jia
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(12), 2693; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15122693 - 28 Nov 2023
Viewed by 814
Abstract
Given that cancer mortality is usually due to a late diagnosis, early detection is crucial to improve the patient’s results and prevent cancer-related death. Imaging technology based on novel nanomaterials has attracted much attention for early-stage cancer diagnosis. In this study, a new [...] Read more.
Given that cancer mortality is usually due to a late diagnosis, early detection is crucial to improve the patient’s results and prevent cancer-related death. Imaging technology based on novel nanomaterials has attracted much attention for early-stage cancer diagnosis. In this study, a new block copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(l-lactide) diblock copolymer (PEG-PLLA), was synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization method and thoroughly characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The obtained PEG-PLLA was used to prepare nanoparticles encapsulated with perfluoropentane and salicylic acid by the emulsion-solvent evaporation method, resulting in a new dual-mode nano-image probe (PEG-PLLA@SA·PFP). The zeta potential and mean diameter of the obtained nanoparticles were measured using dynamic light scattering (DLS) with a Malvern Zetersizer Nano. The in vitro biocompatibility of the PEG-PLLA nanoparticles was evaluated with cell migration, hemolysis, and cytotoxicity assays. Ultrasonic imaging was performed using an ultrasonic imaging apparatus, and chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI was conducted on a 7.0 T animal scanner. The results of IR and NMR confirmed that the PEG-PLLA was successfully synthesized. The particle size and negative charge of the nanoparticles were 223.8 ± 2.5 nm and −39.6 ± 1.9 mV, respectively. The polydispersity of the diameter was 0.153 ± 0.020. These nanoparticles possessed good stability at 4 °C for about one month. The results of cytotoxicity, cell migration, and hemolysis assays showed that the carrier material was biocompatible. Finally, PEG-PLLA nanoparticles were able to significantly enhance the imaging effect of tumors by the irradiation of ultrasound and saturation by a radiofrequency pulse, respectively. In conclusion, these nanoparticles exhibit promising dual-mode capabilities for US/CEST MR imaging. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Assisted in Tumor Immunotherapy)
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