Fibrin-Targeted Polymerized Shell Microbubbles as Potential Theranostic Agents for Surgical Adhesions.

ABSTRACT: The development of new therapies for surgical adhesions has proven to be difficult as there is no consistently effective way to assess treatment efficacy in clinical trials without performing a second surgery, which can result in additional adhesions. We have developed lipid microbubble formulations that use a short peptide sequence, CREKA, to target fibrin, the molecule that forms nascent adhesions. These targeted polymerized shell microbubbles (PSMs) are designed to allow ultrasound imaging of early adhesions for diagnostic purposes and for evaluating the success of potential treatments in clinical trials while acting as a possible treatment. In this study, we show that CREKA-targeted microbubbles preferentially bind fibrin over fibrinogen and are stable for long periods of time (∼48 h),

SUBMITTER: Gormley CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6767917 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature