{"id":872,"date":"2026-02-19T03:59:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/?post_type=informationen&#038;p=872"},"modified":"2026-02-19T03:59:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:59:30","slug":"the-research-paper-from-the-kurumizaka-lab-has-been-published-in-the-acs-applied-nano-materials","status":"publish","type":"informationen","link":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/archives\/informationen\/the-research-paper-from-the-kurumizaka-lab-has-been-published-in-the-acs-applied-nano-materials","title":{"rendered":"The research paper from the Kurumizaka Lab has been published in the ACS Applied Nano Materials!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>ImmuBubbles: Antibody-Shelled Gas-Core Nanobubbles as Ultrasound Contrast Agents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobuhito Hamano, Yusuke Yano, Taiki Yamaguchi, Karin Yokota, Naoko Tsubaki, Mizuki Obara, Yoko Endo-Takahashi, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Yoshimasa Takizawa, Hitoshi Kurumizaka, Yamato Kikkawa, Yoichi Negishi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><br>Ultrasound (US)-responsive nanobubbles (NBs) enable image-guided, localized delivery of biologics; however, the surface area of conventional antibody-loaded NBs limits their loading capacity. Although antibodies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) offer high target specificity and prolonged half-lives, their penetration into solid tumors is impeded by abnormal vasculature and a dense extracellular matrix. To address these challenges, we developed ImmuBubbles (IBs), self-assembled antibody-shelled gas-core NBs produced by high-speed agitation of trastuzumab solutions in perfluoropropane. Hydrophobic residues within the IgG Fc region promoted self-assembly at the gas\u2013liquid interface, forming shells without lipid incorporation. Herceptin-shelled IBs (Her-IBs) were uniform (\u223c95 nm) and positively charged (\u03b6 \u2248 + 10 mV) and generated US contrast both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, cryo-transmission electron microscopy revealed spherical shells enclosing electron-lucent cores, consistent with a gas-filled morphology. To improve in vivo persistence, Pluronic L61 (L61) was coincorporated, yielding L61-Her-IBs with increased particle yield and enhanced echogenicity in cardiac imaging, with detectable contrast in tumor imaging. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity was preserved for L61-Her-IBs after high-speed mixing and therapeutic US (TUS; 1 MHz) exposure, consistent with maintained bioactivity. In SKOV3 xenografts, systemic L61-Her-IBs + TUS showed a trend toward tumor growth suppression compared with Herceptin monotherapy, without evident systemic toxicity. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that antibody-shelled NBs can function as US-responsive contrast agents while retaining antibody-mediated biological activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of self-assembled antibody-shelled NBs as ultrasound contrast agents that retain antibody function. With additional shell stabilization, such as covalent cross-linking using antibody-drug conjugate-style linkers, IBs may provide a platform for improving the precision of therapeutic ultrasound\u2013guided interventions in solid tumors and tissues protected by restrictive biological barriers, including the central nervous system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>ACS Applied Nano Materials<\/em><\/strong>, doi: 10.1021\/acsanm.5c05403. (2026)<br><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acsanm.5c05403\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acsanm.5c05403<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ImmuBubbles: Antibody-Shelled Gas-Core Nanobubbles as Ultrasound Contrast Agents &#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-872","informationen","type-informationen","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/informationen\/872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/informationen"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/informationen"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/informationen\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873,"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/informationen\/872\/revisions\/873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bioreg.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/ext\/epicode\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}