Polymersomes for image-guided therapy

Polymersomes are a promising avenue for image-guided therapy of cancer, since they can stably encapsulate a broad range of therapeutic molecules and offer both targeting capacity and stimuli responsiveness. We have formulated highly stable, magnetically activatable polymersomes capable of continuous and pulsed small molecule release. In the proof-of-concept provided here, we demonstrate that these particles are responsive to both external and heat and magnetic fields. At physiologic temperatures, these particles display a sustained release profile that can be reversibly triggered for transient increases in release. The incorporation of fluorescent and iron oxide contrast sources make these particles amenable for quantitative imaging techniques including intravital microscopy (IVM) and ultra-short time-to-echo (UTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thus we believe this formulation is uniquely suited for the in vivo study and optimization of externally triggered tumor growth inhibition.