Ultrasound-induced sonoporation with the aid of magnetic nanoparticles

Targeted gene and drug delivery has untapped potential for the treatment of a wide range of pathological conditions. The recent advancements in ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) including their ability to target regions of interest (ROI) with high specificity makes them ideal for a range of both in vitro and in vivo studies. This work investigates gene expression enhancement by a novel combination of nanosized magnetic particles (MagTag^®) and cationic UCAs (cUCAs). The cUCAs have been studied alone and in combination with the MATra-A reagent (Iba Life Sciences, Goettingen, Germany), that uses activated magnetic fields for the delivery of nucleic acids into the cell nucleus.