Perfluorocarbon-loaded lipid nanocapsules as oxygen sensors for tumor tissue pO2 assessment

The assessment of tumor oxygenation is a crucial factor in cancer therapy and may be carried out using fluorine MRI once fluorine probes have been distributed within the tumor. However, the deposit of those highly fluorinated compounds often jeopardizes anatomical image quality and requires emulsification of the probes. Due to the high density and the high lipophilicity of perfluorocarbons, nanoemulsion of these molecules usually requires high-energy processes. In the present work, we discuss the synthesis and the physico-chemical characterization of perfluorocarbon nanocapsules using a low-energy phase-inversion process. The nanocapsules were tested on a mouse tumor brain model to assess oxygenation.

Graphical abstractInfluence of component weight proportion on the PFCE-loaded lipid nanoparticles properties and in vitro/in vivo sensitivity of the formulated sensor to pO2.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (69 K)Download as PowerPoint slide