Daria Belous

Masterstudentin

Engineering of protease-responsive contrast agent for ultrasound imaging

Supervisors: Prof. Simone Schürle-Finke (at ETH Zurich), Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

In the last decades, microbubbles (MBs) became commercially available ultrasound (US) contrast agents. Often comprised of a thin lipid shell which encloses an inert, insoluble gas, MBs provide a strong acoustic response, increasing contrast and resolution between vasculature and tissue. Beyond passive imaging, MBs are being engineered for targeting on a molecular level via attachment of antibodies, nanobodies or peptides. While this made the detection of immobilized receptors and membrane-bound proteins possible, the secreted, soluble proteins, such as proteases, remain a challenge. Proteases play a major role in inflammation and disease progression, making their localized activity profile valuable information for early disease detection and precise monitoring. Within the scope of the thesis, MBs which accumulate in protease-rich locations will be engineered. The performance of the engineered MBs will be assessed using surface plasmon resonance and validated under physiological-like conditions.