Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1991 Sep 1;88(17):7708–7710. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.17.7708

Air-filled proteinaceous microbubbles: synthesis of an echo-contrast agent.

M W Grinstaff 1, K S Suslick 1
PMCID: PMC52371  PMID: 1652761

Abstract

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.

Full text

PDF
7709

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Armstrong W. F., Mueller T. M., Kinney E. L., Tickner E. G., Dillon J. C., Feigenbaum H. Assessment of myocardial perfusion abnormalities with contrast-enhanced two-dimensional echocardiography. Circulation. 1982 Jul;66(1):166–173. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.66.1.166. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BRONSKAIA L. M., EL'PINER Ie. [Polarographic studies on proteins subjected to the action of ultrasonic waves]. Biofizika. 1963;8:344–348. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Carter D. C., He X. M., Munson S. H., Twigg P. D., Gernert K. M., Broom M. B., Miller T. Y. Three-dimensional structure of human serum albumin. Science. 1989 Jun 9;244(4909):1195–1198. doi: 10.1126/science.2727704. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dugaiczyk A., Law S. W., Dennison O. E. Nucleotide sequence and the encoded amino acids of human serum albumin mRNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Jan;79(1):71–75. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.1.71. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Feinstein S. B., Ten Cate F. J., Zwehl W., Ong K., Maurer G., Tei C., Shah P. M., Meerbaum S., Corday E. Two-dimensional contrast echocardiography. I. In vitro development and quantitative analysis of echo contrast agents. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1984 Jan;3(1):14–20. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(84)80424-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gillam L. D., Kaul S., Fallon J. T., Levine R. A., Hedley-Whyte E. T., Guerrero J. L., Weyman A. E. Functional and pathologic effects of multiple echocardiographic contrast injections on the myocardium, brain and kidney. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1985 Sep;6(3):687–694. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(85)80132-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gramiak R., Shah P. M. Echocardiography of the aortic root. Invest Radiol. 1968 Sep-Oct;3(5):356–366. doi: 10.1097/00004424-196809000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Haugaard N., Cutler J., Ruggieri M. R. Use of N-ethylmaleimide to prevent interference by sulfhydryl reagents with the glucose oxidase assay for glucose. Anal Biochem. 1981 Sep 15;116(2):341–343. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(81)90368-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kaul S., Pandian N. G., Okada R. D., Pohost G. M., Weyman A. E. Contrast echocardiography in acute myocardial ischemia: I. In vivo determination of total left ventricular "area at risk". J Am Coll Cardiol. 1984 Dec;4(6):1272–1282. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(84)80149-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Keller M. W., Feinstein S. B., Briller R. A., Powsner S. M. Automated production and analysis of echo contrast agents. J Ultrasound Med. 1986 Sep;5(9):493–498. doi: 10.7863/jum.1986.5.9.493. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Keller M. W., Feinstein S. B., Watson D. D. Successful left ventricular opacification following peripheral venous injection of sonicated contrast agent: an experimental evaluation. Am Heart J. 1987 Sep;114(3):570–575. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(87)90754-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kemper A. J., O'Boyle J. E., Cohen C. A., Taylor A., Parisi A. F. Hydrogen peroxide contrast echocardiography: quantification in vivo of myocardial risk area during coronary occlusion and of the necrotic area remaining after myocardial reperfusion. Circulation. 1984 Aug;70(2):309–317. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.70.2.309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kerber R. E., Kioschos J. M., Lauer R. M. Use of an ultrasonic contrast method in the diagnosis of valvular regurgitation and intracardiac shunts. Am J Cardiol. 1974 Nov;34(6):722–727. doi: 10.1016/0002-9149(74)90163-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lippitt B., McCord J. M., Fridovich I. The sonochemical reduction of cytochrome c and its inhibition by superoxide dismutase. J Biol Chem. 1972 Jul 25;247(14):4688–4690. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pieroni D. R., Varghese P. J., Freedom R. M., Rowe R. D. The sensitivity of contrast echocardiography in detecting intracardiac shunts. Cathet Cardiovasc Diagn. 1979;5(1):19–29. doi: 10.1002/ccd.1810050104. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Powsner S. M., Keller M. W., Saniie J., Feinstein S. B. Quantitation of echo-contrast effects. Am J Physiol Imaging. 1986;1(3):124–128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Smith M. D., Kwan O. L., Reiser H. J., DeMaria A. N. Superior intensity and reproducibility of SHU-454, a new right heart contrast agent. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1984 Apr;3(4):992–998. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(84)80358-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Suslick K. S. Sonochemistry. Science. 1990 Mar 23;247(4949):1439–1445. doi: 10.1126/science.247.4949.1439. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tei C., Kondo S., Meerbaum S., Ong K., Maurer G., Wood F., Sakamaki T., Shimoura K., Corday E., Shah P. M. Correlation of myocardial echo contrast disappearance rate ("washout") and severity of experimental coronary stenosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1984 Jan;3(1):39–46. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(84)80428-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES