Acceleration of tissue plasminogen activator-mediated thrombolysis by magnetically powered nanomotors

Dose control and effectiveness promotion of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) for thrombolysis are vitally important to alleviate serious side effects such as hemorrhage in stroke treatments. In order to increase the effectiveness and reduce the risk of stroke treatment, we use rotating magnetic nanomotors to enhance the mass transport of t-PA molecules at the blood clot interface for local ischemic stroke therapy. The in vitro experiments demonstrate that, when combined with magnetically activated nanomotors, the thrombolysis speed of low-concentration t-PA (50 μg mL(-1)) can be enhanced up to 2-fold, to the maximum lysis speed at high t-PA concentration. Based on the convection enhanced transport theory due to rotating magnetic nanomotors, a theoretical model is proposed and predicts the experimental results reasonably well. The validity and efficiency of this enhanced treatment has been demonstrated in a rat embolic model.