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. 2024 May 29;15(6):3962-3974.
doi: 10.1364/BOE.527912. eCollection 2024 Jun 1.

In vivo quantitative characterization of nano adjuvant transport in the tracheal layer by photoacoustic imaging

Chaohao Liang  1 , Fan Meng  1 , Yiqing Zhang  1 , Yuxiang Chen  1 , Li Luo  1 , Hongyan Li  1 , Xinbo Tu  1 , Fengbing He  1 , Zhijia Luo  1 , Qian Wang  1   2 , Jian Zhang  1   2
Affiliations

In vivo quantitative characterization of nano adjuvant transport in the tracheal layer by photoacoustic imaging

Chaohao Liang et al. Biomed Opt Express. .

Abstract

Adjuvants are indispensable ingredients in vaccine formulations. Evaluating the in vivo transport processes of adjuvants, particularly for inhalation formulations, presents substantial challenges. In this study, a nanosized adjuvant aluminum hydroxide (AlOOH) was synthesized and labeled with indocyanine green (ICG) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to achieve strong optical absorption ability and high biocompatibility. The adjuvant nanomaterials (BSA@ICG@AlOOH, BIA) were delivered as an aerosol into the airways of mice, its distribution was monitored using photoacoustic imaging (PAI) in vivo. PAI results illustrated the gradual cross-layer transmission process of BIA in the tracheal layer, traversing approximately 250 µm from the inner layer of the trachea to the outer layer. The results were consistent with pathology. While the intensity of the BIA reduced by approximately 46.8% throughout the transport process. The ability of PAI for quantitatively characterized the dynamic transport process of adjuvant within the tracheal layer may be widely used in new vaccine development.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
AlOOH labeled with ICG and BSA, and its transport process within the mouse trachea layers was monitored by PAI.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Characterization of BIA. (a) Morphology under TEM. (b) DLS measurement of hydrodynamic size. (c) Measurement of hydrodynamic size for seven consecutive days. (d) Measurement of Zeta potential. (e) UV absorption intensities of different materials. (f) UV absorption intensity of BIA at different concentrations.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
(a) FT-IR of BIA and AlOOH. (b) EDS of BIA.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
In vitro PA property of BIA. (a) PA images at 770 nm excitation for different concentrations of BIA. (b) Quantitative analysis of the variation of PA intensity with BIA concentration at 770 nm. (c) PA images of BIA at different time points. (d) Quantitative analysis of the photostability of BIA at different time points.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Cell viability of Beas-2B cells when co-cultured with different concentrations (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 2, and 4 mg/mL) of the BIA at 24 hours.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.
H&E staining images of heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney sections of mice in each group. The scale bar is 200 µm.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7.
PAI results of exposed trachea.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 8.
(a) PA intensity values of the four groups. (b) PA signal movement distance of the four groups.
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