This study explored the possibility of utilizing iron oxide nanoparticles as a drug delivery vehicle for minimally invasive, MRI-monitored magnetic targeting of brain tumors. In vitro determined hydrodynamic diameter of ~100nm, saturation magnetization of 94 emu/g Fe and T 2 relaxivity of 43 s −1 mM −1 of the nanoparticles suggested their applicability for this purpose. In vivo effect of magnetic targeting on the extent and selectivity of nanoparticle accumulation in tumors of rats harboring orthotopic 9L-gliosarcomas was quantified with MRI. Animals were intravenously injected with nanoparticles (12 mg Fe/kg) under a magnetic field density of 0 T (control) or 0.4 T (experimental) applied for 30 minutes. MR images were acquired prior to administration of nanoparticles and immediately after magnetic targeting at 1 hour intervals for 4 hours. Image analysis revealed that magnetic targeting induced a 5-fold increase in the total glioma exposure to magnetic nanoparticles over non-targeted tumors (p=0.005) and a 3.6-fold enhancement in the target selectivity index of nanoparticle accumulation in glioma over the normal brain (p=0.025). In conclusion, accumulation of iron oxide nanoparticles in gliosarcomas can be significantly enhanced by magnetic targeting and successfully quantified by MR imaging. Hence, these nanoparticles appear to be a promising vehicle for glioma-targeted drug delivery.

This study aimed to examine the applicability of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified magnetic nanoparticles (GPEI) as a potential vascular drug/gene carrier to brain tumors. In vitro, GPEI exhibited high cell association and low cell toxicity -properties which are highly desirable for intracellular drug/gene delivery. In addition, a high saturation magnetization of 93 emu/g Fe was expected to facilitate magnetic targeting of GPEI to brain tumor lesions. However, following intravenous administration, GPEI could not be magnetically accumulated in tumors of rats harboring orthotopic 9L-gliosarcomas due to its poor pharmacokinetic properties, reflected by a negligibly low plasma AUC of 12 ± 3 μg Fe/ml*min. To improve "passive" GPEI presentation to brain tumor vasculature for subsequent "active" magnetic capture, we examined the intra-carotid route as an alternative for nanoparticle administration. Intra-carotid administration in conjunction with magnetic targeting resulted in 30-fold (p = 0.002) increase in tumor entrapment of GPEI compared to that seen with intravenous administration. In addition, magnetic accumulation of cationic GPEI (ζ-potential = + 37.2 mV) in tumor lesions was 5.2-fold higher (p = 0.004) than that achieved with slightly anionic G100 (ζ-potential = −12 mV) following intra-carotid administration, while no significant accumulation difference was detected between the two types of nanoparticles in the contra-lateral brain (p = 0.187). These promising results warrant further investigation of GPEI as a potential cellpermeable, magnetically-responsive platform for brain tumor delivery of drugs and genes.

Our previous studies demonstrated feasibility of magnetically-mediated retention of iron-oxide nanoparticles in brain tumors after intravascular administration. The purpose of this study was to elucidate strategies for further improvement of this promising approach. In particular, we explored administration of the nanoparticles via a non-occluded carotid artery as a way to increase the passive exposure of tumor vasculature to nanoparticles for subsequent magnetic entrapment. However, aggregation of nanoparticles in the afferent vasculature interfered with tumor targeting. The magnetic setup employed in our experiments was found to generate a relatively uniform magnetic flux density over a broad range, exposing the region of the afferent vasculature to high magnetic force. To overcome this problem, the magnetic setup was modified with a 9-mm diameter cylindrical NdFeB magnet to exhibit steeper magnetic field topography. Six-fold reduction of the magnetic force at the injection site, achieved with this modification, alleviated the aggregation problem under the conditions of intact carotid blood flow. Using this setup, carotid administration was found to present 1.8-fold increase in nanoparticle accumulation in glioma compared to the intravenous route at 350 mT. This increase was found to be in reasonable agreement with the theoretically estimated 1.9-fold advantage of carotid administration, Rd. The developed approach is expected to present an even greater advantage when applied to drug-loaded nanoparticles exhibiting higher values of Rd.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) have been widely studied for use in targeted drug delivery. Analysis of MNP biodistribution is essential to evaluating the success of targeting strategies and the potential for off-target toxicity. This work compared the applicability of inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy in assessing MNP biodistribution. Biodistribution was evaluated in 9L-glioma bearing rats administered with MNP (12-25 mg Fe/kg) under magnetic targeting. Ex vivo analysis of MNP in animal tissues was performed with both ICP-OES and ESR. A cryogenic method was developed to overcome the technical hurdle of loading tissue samples into ESR tubes. Comparison of results from the ICP-OES and ESR measurements revealed two distinct relationships for organs accumulating high or low levels of MNP. In organs with high MNP accumulation such as liver and spleen, data were strongly correlated (r = 0.97, 0.94 for liver and spleen, respectively), thus validating equivalency of the two methods in this high concentration range (> 1000 nmol Fe/g tissue). The two sets of measurements, however, differed significantly in organs with lower levels of MNP accumulation such as brain, kidney, and the tumor. Whereas ESR resolved MNP to 10-55 nmol Fe/g tissue, ICP-OES failed to detect MNP due to masking by endogenous iron. These findings suggest that ESR coupled to cryogenic sample handling is more robust than ICP-OES, attaining better sensitivity in analyses. Such advantages render ESR the method of choice for accurate profiling of MNP biodistribution across tissues with high variability in nanoparticle accumulation.

Magnetic targeting is a promising strategy for achieving localized drug delivery. Application of this strategy to treat brain tumors, however, is complicated by their deep intracranial location, since magnetic field density cannot be focused at a distance from an externally applied magnet. This study intended to examine whether, with magnetic targeting, pathological alteration in brain tumor flow dynamics could be of value in discriminating the diseased site from healthy brain. To address this question, the capture of magnetic nanoparticles was first assessed in vitro using a simple flow system under theoretically estimated glioma and normal brain flow conditions. Secondly, accumulation of nanoparticles via magnetic targeting was evaluated in vivo using 9L-glioma bearing rats. In vitro results that predicted a 7.6-fold increase in nanoparticle capture at glioma-versus contralateral brainrelevant flow rates were relatively consistent with the 9.6-fold glioma selectivity of nanoparticle accumulation over the contralateral brain observed in vivo. Based on these finding, the in vitro ratio of nanoparticle capture can be viewed as a plausible indicator of in vivo glioma selectivity. Overall, it can be concluded that the decreased blood flow rate in glioma, reflecting tumor vascular abnormalities, is an important contributor to glioma-selective nanoparticle accumulation with magnetic targeting.

Early science fiction envisioned the future of drug delivery as targeted micron-scale submarines and ‘Cyborg’ body parts. Here we describe the progression of the field toward technologies that are now beginning to capture aspects of this early vision. Specifically, we focus on the two most prominent types of systems in drug delivery – the intravascular micro/nano drug carriers for delivery to the site of pathology and drug-loaded implantable devices that facilitate release with the pre-defined kinetics or in response to a specific cue. We discuss the unmet clinical needs that inspire these designs, the physiological factors that pose difficult challenges for their realization, and viable technologies that promise robust solutions. We also offer a perspective on where drug delivery may be in the next 50 years based on expected advances in material engineering and in the context of future diagnostics.

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNP) coated with gum arabic (GA), a biocompatible phytochemical glycoprotein widely used in the food industry, were successfully synthesized and characterized. GA-coated MNP (GA-MNP) displayed a narrow hydrodynamic particle size distribution averaging about 100 nm; a GA content of 15.6% by dry weight; a saturation magnetization of 93.1 emu/g Fe; and a superparamagnetic behavior essential for most magnetic-mediated applications. The GA coating offers two major benefits: it both enhances colloidal stability and provides reactive functional groups suitable for coupling of bioactive compounds. In vitro results showed that GA-MNP possessed a superior stability upon storage in aqueous media when compared to commercial MNP products currently used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In addition, significant cellular uptake of GA-MNP was evaluated in 9L glioma cells by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and MRI analyses. Based on these findings, it was hypothesized that GA-MNP might be utilized as a MRI-visible drug carrier in achieving both magnetic tumor targeting and intracellular drug delivery. Indeed, preliminary in vivo investigations validate this clinical potential. MRI visually confirmed the accumulation of GA-MNP at the tumor site following intravenous administration to rats harboring 9L glioma tumors under the application of an external magnetic field. ESR spectroscopy quantitatively revealed a 12-fold increase in GA-MNP accumulation in excised tumors when compared to contralateral normal brain. Overall, the results presented show promise that GA-MNP could potentially be employed to achieve simultaneous tumor imaging and targeted intra-tumoral drug delivery.

The delivery of bioactive proteins to tumors is associated with many difficulties that have impeded clinical translation of these promising therapeutics. Herein we present an approach, including (1) use of magnetically-responsive and MRI-visible nanoparticles as drug carriers, (2) topography-optimized intra-arterial magnetic targeting, (3) MRI-guided subject alignment within the magnetic field, and (4) surface modification of the protein drug with membrane-permeable polyethyleneimine (PEI), to prevail over the obstacles in protein delivery. Applying these methodologies, we demonstrated the delivery of a significant quantity of β-Galactosidase selectively into brain tumors of glioma-bearing rats, while limiting the exposure of normal brain regions. Clinical viability of the technologies utilized, and the ability to deliver proteins at high nanomolar-range tumor concentrations, sufficient to completely eradicate a tumor lesion with existing picomolar-potency protein toxins, renders the prospect of enabling protein-based cancer therapy extremely promising.