No abstract

An intelligent magnetic hydrogel (ferrogel) was fabricated by mixing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels and Fe3O4 magnetic particles through freezing-thawing cycles. Although the external direct current magnetic field was applied to the ferrogel, the drug was accumulated around the ferrogel, but the accumulated drug was spurt to the environment instantly when the magnetic fields instantly switched "off". Furthermore, rapid to slow drug release can be tunable while the magnetic field was switched from "off" to "on" mode. The drug release behavior from the ferrogel is strongly dominated by the particle size of Fe3O4 under a given magnetic field. The best "magnetic-sensitive effects" are observed for the ferrogels with larger Fe3O4 particles due to its stronger saturation magnetization and smaller coercive force. Furthermore, the amount of drug release can be controlled by fine-tuning of the switching duration time (SDT) through an externally controllable on-off operation in a given magnetic field. It was demonstrated that the highest burst drug amounts and best "close" configuration of the ferrogel were observed for the SDT of 10 and 5 min, respectively. By taking these peculiar magnetic-sensitive characteristics of the novel ferrogels currently synthesized, it is highly expected to have a controllable or programmable drug release profile that can be designed for practical clinical needs.

Quantum-dot-tagged reduced graphene oxide (QD-rGO) nanocomposites (left) internalized into targeted tumor cells display bright fluorescence from the QDs (right); by absorbing NIR radiation incident on the rGO and converting it into heat, they also cause simultaneous cell death and fluorescence reduction (bottom). The nanocomposite is thus capable of tumor imaging, photothermal therapy and in situ monitoring of treatment in progress.

Several biocompatible polymers are capable of large responses to small temperature changes around 37ºC. In water, their responses include shrinkage and swelling as well as transitions in wettability. These properties have been harnessed for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds and drug delivery carriers. A soft material/hard material hybrid in which a magnetic metal or oxide is embedded in a temperatureresponsive polymer matrix can combine the thermal sensitivity with magnetic signatures. Importantly, nanosizing such construct brings about new desirable features of extremely fast thermal response time, small magnetic hysteresis and enhanced magnetic susceptibility. Remote magnetic maneuvering and heating of the hybrid nanocolloids makes possible such applications as high-throughput enzyme separation and cell screening. Robust drug release on demand may also be obtained using these colloids and nanoparticle-derived thin film devices of combined thermal magnetic sensitivity. • C. In water, their responses include shrinkage and swelling as well as transitions in wettability. These properties have been harnessed for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering scaffolds and drug delivery carriers. A soft material/hard material hybrid in which a magnetic metal or oxide is embedded in a temperature-responsive polymer matrix can combine the thermal sensitivity with magnetic signatures. Importantly, nanosizing such construct brings about new desirable features of extremely fast thermal response time, small magnetic hysteresis and enhanced magnetic susceptibility. Remote magnetic maneuvering and heating of the hybrid nanocolloids makes possible such applications as high-throughput enzyme separation and cell screening. Robust drug release on demand may also be obtained using these colloids and nanoparticle-derived thin film devices of combined thermal magnetic sensitivity. ARTICLE IN PRESS+Model NANTOD 7 1-14 Nano Today (2008) xxx, xxx-xxx 1 a v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m j o u r n a

Iron-oxide-containing double emulsion capsules carrying both hydrophilic and hydrophobic therapeutic molecules can deliver drugs and energy on demand in vivo. Magneto-chemotherapy/hyperthermia involves a burst-like release of hydrophilic doxorubicin and hydrophobic paclitaxel, remotely triggered by a high frequency magnetic field, which also releases energy via internalized iron oxide nanoparticles, all contributing to cell kill.