Ultrasound responsive carbon monoxide releasing micelle

• Published in: Ultrasonics sonochemistry 2021-04, Vol.72, p.105427-105427, Article 105427
• Main Authors: Alghazwat, Osamah, Talebzadeh, Somayeh, Oyer, Jeremiah, Copik, Alicja, Liao, Yi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon monoxide releasing material; Drug delivery; Micelle; Original; Ultrasound
• ISSN: 1350-4177; 1873-2828
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105427

•Development of the first ultrasound responsive carbon monoxide releasing material.•Activation by relatively low intensity of ultrasound.•Material composed of FDA approved polymer and a well-accepted carbon monoxide releasing molecule. Carbon monoxide (CO), an endogenously produced gasotransmitter, has shown various therapeutic effects in previous studies. In this work, we developed an ultrasound responsive micelle for localized CO delivery. The micelle is composed of a pluronic shell and a core of a CO releasing molecule, CORM-2. The mechanism is based on the ultrasound response of pluronics, and the reaction between CORM-2 and certain biomolecules, e.g. cysteine. The latter allows CO release without significantly breaking the micelles. In a 3.5 mM cysteine solution, the micelles released low level of CO, indicating effective encapsulation of CORM-2. Treatment with a low intensity, non-focused ultrasound led to four times as much CO as the sample without ultrasonication, which is close to that of unencapsulated CORM-2. Significantly reduced proliferation of prostate cancer cells (PC-3) was observed 24 h after the PC-3 cells were treated with the CORM-2 micelles followed by ultrasound activation.