Cancer is a deadly
disease that has long plagued humans and has
become more prevalent in recent years. The common treatment modalities
for this disease have always faced many problems and complications,
and this has led to the discovery of strategies for cancer diagnosis
and treatment. The use of magnetic nanoparticles in the past two decades
has had a significant impact on this. One of the objectives of the
present study is to introduce the special properties of these nanoparticles
and how they are structured to load and transport drugs to tumors.
In this study, iron oxide (Fe
3
O
4
) nanoparticles
with 6 nm sizes were coated with hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG)
and folic acid (FA). The functionalized nanoparticles (10–20
nm) were less likely to aggregate compared to non-functionalized nanoparticles.
HPG@Fe
3
O
4
and FA@HPG@Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles were compared in drug loading procedures with curcumin.
HPG@Fe
3
O
4
and FA@HPG@Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles’ maximal drug-loading capacities were determined
to be 82 and 88%, respectively. HeLa cells and mouse L929 fibroblasts
treated with nanoparticles took up more FA@HPG@Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles than HPG@Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles.
The FA@HPG@Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles produced in the
current investigation have potential as anticancer drug delivery systems.
For the purpose of diagnosis, incubation of HeLa cells with nanoparticles
decreased MRI signal enhancement’s percentage and the largest
alteration was observed after incubation with FA@HPG@Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles.
In recent years, the intrinsic magnetic properties of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have made them one of the most promising candidates for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aims to evaluate the effect of different coating agents (with and without targeting agents) on the magnetic property of MNPs. In detail, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were prepared by the polyol method. The nanoparticles were then divided into two groups, one of which was coated with silica (SiO2) and hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) (SPION@SiO2@HPG); the other was covered by HPG alone (SPION@HPG). In the following section, folic acid (FA), as a targeting agent, was attached on the surface of nanoparticles. Physicochemical properties of nanostructures were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). TEM results showed that SPION@HPG was monodispersed with the average size of about 20 nm, while SPION@SiO2@HPG had a size of about 25 nm. Moreover, HPG coated nanoparticles had much lower magnetic saturation than the silica coated ones. The MR signal intensity of the nanostructures showed a relation between increasing the nanoparticle concentrations inside the MCF-7 cells and decreasing the signal related to the T2 relaxation time. The comparison of coating showed that SPION@SiO2@HPG (with/without a targeting agent) had significantly higher value in comparison to Fe3O4@HPG. Based on the results of this study, the Fe3O4@SiO2@HPG-FA nanoparticles have shown the best magnetic properties, and can be considered promising contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging applications.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.