title: Multifunctional iron oxide nanoparticles for diagnostics, therapy and macromolecule delivery.
abstract: In recent years, multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) consisting of either metal (e.g. Au), or magnetic NP (e.g. iron oxide) with other fluorescent components such as quantum dots (QDs) or organic dyes have been emerging as versatile candidate systems for cancer diagnosis, therapy, and macromolecule delivery such as micro ribonucleic acid (microRNA). This review intends to highlight the recent advances in the synthesis and application of multifunctional NPs (mainly iron oxide) in theranostics, an area used to combine therapeutics and diagnostics. The recent applications of NPs in miRNA delivery are also reviewed.
authors.affiliation: 1. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), ASTAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602.
authors.forename: Swee Kuan
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.affiliation: 2. The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Drive, Research Techno Plaza, Level 4, X-Frontier Block, Singapore 637553.
authors.forename: Parasuraman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Padmanabhan
authors.affiliation: 1. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), ASTAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602 ; 3. National University of Singapore, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, 7 Engineering Drive 1 Singapore 117576.
authors.forename: Subramanian Tamil
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Selvan
mesh_terms: D004337:Drug Carriers; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; C000499:ferric oxide
keywords: MRI; contrast agents; gold; iron oxide; miRNA delivery; nanoparticles; optical imaging; theranostics.