Treatment of Breast Cancer-Bearing BALB/c Mice with Magnetic Hyperthermia using Dendrimer Functionalized Iron-Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

The development of novel nanoparticles for diagnostic and therapeutic applications has been one of the most crucial challenges in cancer theranostics for the last decades. Herein, we functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) with the fourth generation (G4) of poly amidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers (G4@IONPs) for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of breast cancer in Bagg albino strain C (BALB/c)mice. The survival of breast cancer cells significantly decreased after incubation with G4@IONPs and exposure to an alternating magnetic field (AMF) due to apoptosis and elevation of Bax (Bcl-2 associated X)/Bcl-2(B-cell lymphoma 2) ratio. After intratumoral injection of G4@IONPs, tumor-bearing BALB/c mice were exposed to AMF for 20 min; this procedure was repeated three times every other day. After the last treatment, tumor size was measured every three days. Histopathological and Immunohistochemical studies were performed on the liver, lung, and tumor tissues in treated and control mice. The results did not show any metastatic cells in the liver and lung tissues in the treatment group, while the control mice tissues contained metastatic breast cancer cells. Furthermore, the findings of the present study showed that magnetic hyperthermia treatment inhibited tumor growth by increasing cancer cell apoptosis, as well as reducing the tumor angiogenesis.

Design and Synthesis of Multi-Functional Superparamagnetic Core-Gold Shell Nanoparticles Coated with Chitosan and Folate for Targeted Antitumor Therapy

“…Current research progress on nanotechnology has led to the development of nanocarrier-drug delivery vehicles and their potential applications in gene delivery and cancer therapy [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles (NPs) (SPIONs) have emerged as a superior agent in tumor therapy because of their unique properties, particularly the superior magnetism that permits non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and in vivo applications such as cancer tissue hyperthermia by a targeted technique in the presence of an external magnetic field [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. This field promotes the cellular uptake of NPs containing magnetic materials.…”

Differential Effects of Gold Nanoparticles and Ionizing Radiation on Cell Motility between Primary Human Colonic and Melanocytic Cells and Their Cancerous Counterparts

“…After this the wells were washes with warm PBS, and and fresh tissue culture media added. Gap filling was measured using the CytoSmart ® Live Image System (Piet Heinstraat, Zutphen, Holland) [ 12 ]. The gap area at 0 h and 24 h were measured with ImageJ ® software and the relative migration was calculated using Equation (1) as seen below.…”

“…The findings of such studies have shown that AuNPs have inhibitory effects on cancer cell migration without impacting on the viability of these cells which makes it a promising candidate for further application in gold nanoparticle aided radiotherapy (GNRT) [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Additionally, metallic nanoparticles have been used to enhance other cancer treatments methods such as magnetic hyperthermia and phototherapy [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Microemulsion Synthesis of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles for Bioapplications

“…Besides their magnetism, MNPs show biocompatibility, chemical stability and dispersibility, and the possibility to be further functionalized thanks to the smart addition of different coatings in their surfaces. Since their approval to be used in humans by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and the European Commission in Europe, iron oxide nanoparticles have played a very important role in in-vivo diagnosis, separation, concentration, and/or manipulation of different components in some samples, i.e., blood or body fluids [ 6 , 7 ], contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [ 8 , 9 ], or tracers in magnetic particle imaging (MPI) [ 10 , 11 ], as well as heating agents in magnetic field assisted hyperthermia [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] or drug carriers in magnetic drug targeting and magnetic gene therapies [ 17 , 18 ].…”