Controlled magnetic nanofiber hydrogels by clustering ferritin.
We have fabricated biocompatible nanofiber hydrogels with diverse sizes of ferritin clusters according to the mixing temperature of solutions employing electrospinning. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was used as a polymeric matrix for fabricating nanocomposites. By thermal means we controlled the interaction between the host PVA hydrogel and the protein shell on ferritin bionanoparticles to vary the size and concentration of ferritin clusters. The clustering of ferritin was based on the partial unfolding of a protein shell of ferritin. By studying the magnetic properties of the PVA/ferritin nanofibers according to the mixing temperature of the PVA/ferritin solutions, we confirmed that the clustering process of the ferritin was related to changes in the superparamagnetic properties and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast of the PVA/ferritin nanofibers. PVA/ferritin nanofiber hydrogels with diverse spatial distributions of ferritin nanoparticles are applicable as MRI-based noninvasive detectable cell culture scaffolds and as artificial muscles because of their improved superparamagnetic properties.
Shin
Min Kyoon
MK
Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Sun I
SI
Kim
Seon Jeong
SJ
Park
Sang Yoon
SY
Hyun
Young Hoon
YH
Lee
YoungPak
Y
Lee
Kyung Eun
KE
Han
Sung-Sik
SS
Jang
Dong-Pyo
DP
Kim
Young-Bo
YB
Cho
Zang-Hee
ZH
So
Insuk
I
Spinks
Geoffrey M
GM
D005293:Ferritins / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008280:Magnetics; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures
D020100:Hydrogels; D005293:Ferritins