Novel dehydropeptide-based magnetogels containing manganese ferrite nanoparticles as antitumor drug nanocarriers

Abstract

Novel peptide-based magnetogels, containing MnFe2O4 nanoparticles of 20 nm size, were developed and successfully tested as nanocarriers for antitumor drugs.

Magnetoliposomes Incorporated in Peptide-Based Hydrogels: Towards Development of Magnetolipogels

“…The magnetization hysteresis loop ( Figure 2B) displays a saturation magnetization of 55 emu/g, a coercivity of 38.83 Oe, and an M r /M s ratio of 0.06, which indicates that the nanoparticles present a superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature, and is in agreement with previously reported values for manganese ferrite nanoparticles obtained through co-precipitation [12,13]. From the TEM measurements ( Figure 2C) an average size of 24.2 ± 6.9 nm was obtained, which is also in accordance with previously reported values [9,12].…”

“…From the UV-Visible absorption measurements over time ( Figure S1 in Supplementary Material), it can be observed that nanoparticle dispersions are stable for one hour, with no significant sedimentation and the behavior is similar for nanoparticles with and without sonication. The zeta potential value of the magnetic nanoparticles is negative (−14.1 ± 1.2 mV), preventing their aggregation, as previously reported [9].…”

“…The fluorescence quenching of H1 suggests its proximity to the SMLs. The localization of curcumin in a hydrophobic environment has been reported in a previous work with magnetic gels [9]. Yet, the presence of membranes favored the location of curcumin to a more hydrophobic environment in the H3 gel, as opposed to the previously reported environment similar to acetonitrile in the magnetic gels.…”

“…Manganese ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized by the co-precipitation method, as described in previous works [ 8 , 9 , 12 ]. Briefly, a mixture of 500 μL of MnSO 4 ·H 2 O 0.5 M aqueous solution and 500 μL of FeCl 3 ·6H 2 O 1 M was prepared and added, drop by drop, to a 4 mL NaOH 3.4 M aqueous solution at 90 °C, with constant magnetic stirring.…”

“…The self-assembly of supramolecular hydrogelators is driven towards a kinetically trapped intertwined fibrillar structure encompassing solvent pocket microdomains through the cooperative effect of different non-covalent intermolecular interactions [8,9]. The variety of non-covalent intermolecular interactions, both of liposomes and supramolecular hydrogels, might lead to complex behavior and less straightforward magnetic liposome-hydrogel formulation.…”