Air-Filled Proteinaceous Microbubbles: Synthesis of an Echo-Contrast Agent

Air-filled microbubbles are in clinical use as echo-contrast agents for sonographic applications. The synthesis of aqueous suspensions of air-filled proteinaceous microbubbles involves the ultrasonic irradiation of aqueous protein solutions in the presence of O2. Yields and size distributions of hum...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1991-09, Vol.88 (17), p.7708-7710
Main Authors: GRINSTAFF, M. W, SUSLICK, K. S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic echoes
Animals
Aqueous solutions
Biological and medical sciences
bovine serum albumin
Catalase - metabolism
Cattle
Chemicals
Contrast Media
Echocardiography - methods
Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy
Health savings accounts
Hemoglobins - metabolism
human serum albumin
Humans
Hydrogen Peroxide - metabolism
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Irradiation
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous. Technology
Myoglobin - metabolism
Proteins - metabolism
Serum Albumin - metabolism
Serum albumins
Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism
Superoxides
Superoxides - metabolism
Ultrasonic investigative techniques
Ultrasonics
Ultrasonography
Ungulates
Whales
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Air-filled microbubbles are in clinical use as echo-contrast agents for sonographic applications. The synthesis of aqueous suspensions of air-filled proteinaceous microbubbles involves the ultrasonic irradiation of aqueous protein solutions in the presence of O2. Yields and size distributions of human and bovine serum albumin microbubbles have been determined as a function of various experimental parameters. The chemical nature of these microbubbles and the origin of their remarkably long lifetimes have been explored. The microbubbles are held together primarily by interprotein cross-linking of cysteine residues. The principal cross-linking agent is superoxide created by the extremely high temperatures produced during acoustic cavitation.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.88.17.7708