Figure 2.

Specific and enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents with MB-Lipo particles. (A) Delivery scheme. Following specific targeting of MB-Lipo complexes (left), US pulses (flash mode) are applied to burst MBs and thereby release Lipos. The microjets and shockwaves from the MB burst also induce the formation of transient pores (~ 220 nm diameter) on cell membrane, which facilitates the intracellular delivery of cargo material (middle). These temporary pores close in < 1 min (right). (B) Fluorescent HER2-MB_G-Lipo_R particles were used to label breast cancer cells (SkBr3). Due to their large size (1.5 µm), the MB-Lipo complexes were mostly bound to cell membrane with minimal intracellular uptake. (C) Application of US flash (MI = 0.61) burst MBs and released Lipo particles, as confirmed by green and red fluorescent signal inside the cells. The uptake was fast with most of the organic dyes being taken up within 1 min of incubation.