Functionalized Hydrophilic Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia Application in Liver Cancer Treatment

Abstract

In this work, we report the synthesis of hydrophilic and surface-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) to utilize them as nanomedicines for treating liver cancer via magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH)-based thermotherapy. For this purpose, initially, we have synthesized the SPIOs through co-precipitation/thermolysis methods, followed by in situ surface functionalization with short-chained molecules, such as 1,4-diaminobenzene (14DAB), 4-aminobenzoic acid (4ABA) and 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid (34DABA) and their combination with terephthalic acid (TA)/2-aminoterephthalic acid (ATA)/trimesic acid (TMA)/pyromellitic acid (PMA) molecules. The as-prepared SPIOs are investigated for their structure, morphology, water dispersibility, and magnetic properties. The heating efficacies of the SPIOs are studied in calorimetric MFH (C-MFH) with respect to their concentrations, surface coatings, dispersion medium, and applied alternating magnetic fields (AMFs). Although all of the as-prepared SPIOs have exhibited superparamagnetic behavior, only 14DAB-, 4ABA-, 34DABA-, and 4ABA-TA-coated SPIOs have shown higher magnetization values (Ms = 55–71 emu g–1) and good water dispersibility. In C-MFH studies, 34DABA-coated SPIO-based aqueous ferrofluid (AFF) has revealed faster thermal response to the applied AMF and reached therapeutic temperature even at the lowest concentration (0.5 mg mL–1) compared with 14DAB-, 4ABA-, and 4ABA-TA-coated SPIO-based AFFs. Moreover, 34DABA-coated SPIO-based AFF has exhibited high heating efficacies (i.e., specific absorption rate/intrinsic loss power values of 432.1 W gFe–1/5.2 nHm2 kg–1 at 0.5 mg mL–1), which could be mainly due to (i) enhanced π–π conjugation paths of surface-attached 34DABA coating molecules because of intrafunctional group attractions and (ii) improved anisotropy from the formation of clusters/linear chains of the SPIOs in ferrofluid suspensions, owing to interfunctional group attractions/interparticle interactions. Moreover, the 34DABA-coated SPIOs have demonstrated (i) very good cytocompatibility for 24/48 h incubation periods and (ii) higher killing efficiency of 61–88% (via MFH) in HepG2 liver cancer cells as compared to their treatment with only AMF/water-bath-based thermotherapy. In summary, the 34DABA-coated SPIOs are very promising heat-inducing agents for MFH-based thermotherapy and thus could be used as effective nanomedicines for cancer treatments.

The effect of iron oxide nanoparticles on the mechanical relaxation of magnetic polymer hybrid films composed of a polystyrene matrix, a fractional calculus approach

“…The addition of IONPs into a PS matrix produces a synergy among them, such that the obtained MPHF responds to an external magnetic field with fast reaction and contactless control. 1,2,7 Additional applications could also be obtained for MPHFs considering that the magnetic properties of IONPs are very important due to their potential integration into a broad range of technological applications, extending from magnetic fluids, 12,13 catalysis, 14 ultrahigh-density magnetic storage media, 15 biotechnology and biomedicine, 13 and magnetic resonance imaging. 16 IONPs could have a single magnetic domain structure, consisting of spins groups all pointing in the same direction and acting cooperatively.…”

One-pot synthesis of hydrophilic flower-shaped iron oxide nanoclusters (IONCs) based ferrofluids for magnetic fluid hyperthermia applications

“…Based on the above mentioned characterizations, the selected IONCs are investigated further for their heat induction properties on exposure to the alternating magnetic fields (AMFs) generated by a magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) instrument (nanoTherics) [36,37]. The MFH instrument mainly consists of 9/17 turn coil that is used to produce the AMFs having definite amplitudes (H) and frequencies (f), which can be varied in the range of 7.1 kA/m to 15.3 kA/m, and 175.2 kHz to 1001.1 kHz, respectively.…”

“…The cytocompatibility/biocompatibility of the selected IONCs is assessed in human liver cancer cell line (HepG2) as similar to our previous work with some modifications [37,39,40]. The HepG2 cancer cells are cultured in 25 cm 2 tissue culture flask by using DMEM (supplemented with 10% FBS) under 37°C incubation temperature and 5% CO 2 environment.…”

Water dispersible magnetite nanocluster coated with thermo‐responsive thiolactone‐containing copolymer

“…Magnetite nanoparticle (MNP) has been extensively studied for uses in various applications because of its good stability against oxidation and high magnetic responsiveness to an external magnet. Particularly, MNP is of great interest in biomedical technology owing to its biocompatibility and facile synthesis and functionalization, making it to be potentially used in many applications such as magnetically guidable drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and hyperthermia cancer treatment . However, it tended to aggregate mainly due to dipole‐dipole and magnetic attractive forces, leading to the decrease in the surface area/volume ratio and essentially loss its advantageous properties .…”