Porous Iron Oxide Based Nanorods Developed as Delivery Nanocapsules

Abstract

A low-temperature solution approach (90-95 degrees C) using FeCl(3) and urea was carried out to synthesize beta-FeOOH nanorods in aqueous solution. The as-synthesized beta-FeOOH nanorods were further calcined at 300 degrees C to form porous nanorods with compositions including both beta-FeOOH and alpha-Fe(2)O(3). The derived porous nanorods were engineered to assemble with four layers of polyelectrolytes (polyacrylic acid (PAA)/polyethylenimine(PEI)/PAA/PEI) on their surfaces as polyelectrolyte multilayer nanocapsules. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) molecules were loaded into the polyelectrolyte multilayer nanocapsules in order to investigate drug release and intracellular delivery in Hela cells. The as-prepared nanocapsules showed ionic strength-dependent control of the permeability of the polyelectrolyte shells. The release behavior of the entrapped FITC from the FITC-loaded nanocapsules exhibited either controlled- or sustained-release trends, depending on the compactness of the polyelectrolyte shells on the nanorod surfaces. Cytotoxicity measurements demonstrate that the native nanorods and the polymer-coated nanorods have excellent biocompatibility in all dosages between 0.1 ng mL(-1) and 100 microgm L(-1). The time dependence of uptake of FITC-loaded nanocapsules by Hela cancer cells observed by laser confocal microscopy indicates that the nanocapsules can readily be taken up by cancer cells in 15 min, a relatively short period of time, while the slow release of the FITC from the initial perimembrane space into the cytoplasm was followed by release into the nucleus after 24 h.

The anticancer properties of iron core–gold shell nanoparticles in colorectal cancer cells

“…[1][2][3] In diagnostic applications, magnetic nanomaterials can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 4,5 and X-ray computed tomography (CT). 5 In therapeutic applications, metallic nanomaterials can not only serve as drug carriers, 6 but they can also be applied as thermotherapeutic probes under radial high-frequency fields. 7 Among those current magnetic nanomaterials, iron oxidebased nanoparticles have a key advantage with high biocompatibility.…”

Flutelike Porous Hematite Nanorods and Branched Nanostructures: Synthesis, Characterisation and Application for Gas‐Sensing

“…[7][8][9][10] Various a-Fe 2 O 3 micro-and nanostructures, such as dendritic micro-pines, 3D flowerlike architectures, urchin-like superstructures, nanospheres, nanorods, nanowires, nanotubes, nanobelts and nanorings, have been reported. [11][12][13][14] However, to the best of our knowledge, there has no report on the synthesis of porous a-Fe 2 O 3 branched nanostructures so far.…”

A microfluidic cell culture platform for real-time cellular imaging

“…, biological toxicity (Xu et al 2008;Earl et al 2008), therapeutic modalities and nanoparticle-based formulations (Tseng et al 2007;Patra et al 2007;Keter et al 2008;Wu et al 2008a;Wu et al 2007a) greatly rely on a full understanding of the cellular responses to the treatment and its micro-environments. For example, porous iron-oxide nanorods have been developed as delivery nanocapsules (Wu et al 2007a).…”