1. Protein-Engineered Nanoscale Micelles for Dynamic 19F Magnetic Resonance and Therapeutic Drug Delivery
- Author
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Cynthia Xu, Joseph A. Frezzo, Youssef Zaim Wadghiri, Zakia Ben Youss Gironda, Priya Katyal, Xuan Xie, Dung Minh Hoang, Erika Delgado-Fukushima, Lindsay K. Hill, and Jin Kim Montclare
- Subjects
Materials science ,Pentamer ,Relaxation (NMR) ,General Engineering ,Spin–lattice relaxation ,General Physics and Astronomy ,02 engineering and technology ,Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ,Protein engineering ,010402 general chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,01 natural sciences ,Micelle ,0104 chemical sciences ,Drug delivery ,Biophysics ,General Materials Science ,Self-assembly ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
Engineered proteins provide an interesting template for designing fluorine-19 (19F) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, yet progress has been hindered by the unpredictable relaxation properties of fluorine. Herein, we present the biosynthesis of a protein block copolymer, termed "fluorinated thermoresponsive assembled protein" (F-TRAP), which assembles into a monodisperse nanoscale micelle with interesting 19F NMR properties and the ability to encapsulate and release small therapeutic molecules, imparting potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic (theranostic) agent. The assembly of the F-TRAP micelle, composed of a coiled-coil pentamer corona and a hydrophobic, thermoresponsive elastin-like polypeptide core, results in a drastic depression in spin-spin relaxation ( T2) times and unaffected spin-lattice relaxation ( T1) times. The nearly unchanging T1 relaxation rates and linearly dependent T2 relaxation rates have allowed for detection via zero echo time 19F MRI, and the in vivo MR potential has been preliminarily explored using 19F magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). This fluorinated micelle has also demonstrated the ability to encapsulate the small-molecule chemotherapeutic doxorubicin and release its cargo in a thermoresponsive manner owing to its inherent stimuli-responsive properties, presenting an interesting avenue for the development of thermoresponsive 19F MRI/MRS-traceable theranostic agents.
- Published
- 2019
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