title: Versatile theranostics agents designed by coating ferrite nanoparticles with biocompatible polymers.
abstract: Three biocompatible polymers, polyethylene glycol (PEG), dextran and chitosan, have been used in this work to control the colloidal stability of magnetic nanoparticles (14 ± 5 nm in diameter) and to vary the aggregation state in order to study their effect on relaxometric and heating properties. Two different coating strategies have been deeply developed; one based on the formation of an amide bond between citric acid coated nanoparticles (NPs) and amine groups present on the polymer surface and the other based on the NP encapsulation. Relaxometric properties revealed that proton relaxation rates strongly depend on the coating layer hydrophilicity and the aggregation state of the particles due to the presence of magnetic interactions. Thus, while PEG coating reduces particle aggregation by increasing inter-particle spacing leading to reduction of both T1 and T2 relaxation, dextran and chitosan lead to an increase mainly in T2 values due to the aggregation of particles in bigger clusters where they are in close contact. Dextran and chitosan coated NPs have also shown a remarkable heating effect during the application of an alternating magnetic field. They have proved to be potential candidates as theranostic agents for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Finally, cytotoxicity of PEG conjugated NPs, which seem to be ideal for intravenous administration because of their small hydrodynamic size, was investigated resulting in high cell viability even at 0.2 mg Fe ml(-1) after 24 h of incubation. This suspension can be used as drug/biomolecule carrier for in vivo applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zahraei
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marciello
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lazaro-Carrillo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Herranz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talelli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Costo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monshi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shahbazi-Gahrouei
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amirnasr
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Behdadfar
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Morales
mesh_terms: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers; D000068936:Theranostic Nanomedicine
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D011108:Polymers; C001215:ferrite