In Vitro Study: Synthesis and Evaluation of Fe₃O₄/CQD Magnetic/Fluorescent Nanocomposites for Targeted Drug Delivery, MRI, and Cancer Cell Labeling Applications

Abstract

In the present study, first, Fe3O4 nanoparticles were functionalized using glutaric acid and then composited with CQDs. Doxorubicin (DOX) drug was loaded to evaluate the performance of the nanocomposite for targeted drug delivery applications. The XRD pattern confirmed the presence of characteristic peaks of CQDs and Fe3O4. In the FTIR spectrum, the presence of carboxyl functional groups on Fe3O4/CQDs was observed; DOX (positive charge) is loaded onto Fe3O4/CQDs (negative charge) by electrostatic absorption. FESEM and AFM images showed that the particle sizes of Fe3O4 and CQDs were 23–75 and 1–3 nm, respectively. The hysteresis curves showed superparamagnetic properties for Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/CQDs (57.3 and 8.4 emu/g). The Fe3O4 hysteresis curve showed superparamagnetic properties (Ms and Mr: 57.3 emu/g and 1.46 emu/g. The loading efficiency and capacity for Fe3O4/CQDs were 93.90% and 37.2 mg DOX/g MNP, respectively. DOX release from Fe3O4/CQDs in PBS showed pH-dependent release behavior where after 70 h at pH 5 and 7.4, about 50 and 21% of DOX were released. Fluorescence images of Fe3O4/CQD-treated cells showed that Fe3O4/CQDs are capable of labeling MCF-7 and HFF cells. Also, T2-weighted MRI scans of Fe3O4/CQDs in water exhibited high r 2 relaxivity (86.56 mM–1 S–1). MTT assay showed that DOX-loaded Fe3O4/CQDs are highly biocompatible in contact with HFF cells (viability = 95%), but they kill MCF-7 cancer cells (viability = 45%). Therefore, the synthesized nanocomposite can be used in MRI, targeted drug delivery, and cell labeling.

Recent Progress and Challenges Regarding Magnetite-Based Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery

“…The inhibitory rate of cancer cells incubated with a DOX-loaded nanocarrier was 59.81%, which increased to 80.03% after combining MHT and PTT. Other proposed nanocomposites for MRI, targeted DOX delivery, and cell labeling included an Fe3O4 core with attached carbon quantum dots [110]. The in vitro T2-weighted MR images of water dispersed with the nanocarrier were taken for different Fe concentrations (0-0.6 mM).…”

“…Other proposed nanocomposites for MRI, targeted DOX delivery, and cell labeling included an Fe 3 O 4 core with attached carbon quantum dots [110]. The in vitro T 2 -weighted MR images of water dispersed with the nanocarrier were taken for different Fe concentrations (0-0.6 mM).…”

Core-Shell Fe3O4@C Nanoparticles as Highly Effective T2 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies

“…Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 NPs) have attracted considerable attention in many application areas, including environmental treatment [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], food analysis [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], biosensors [ 7 , 8 ], protein immobilization [ 9 ], targeted drug delivery [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], separation [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], magnetofection [ 28 , 29 ], tissue engineering [ 30 ], and hyperthermia [ 31 , 32 ]. In particular, their good biocompatibility, as verified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [ 33 ], facilitates their commercialization.…”

Ultrasound Probe‐assisted Telescopic One‐pot Synthesis of Spiro[indene‐2,2’‐naphthalene]‐4’‐carbonitrile Derivatives using Fe3O4@SCH2CO2H@Ni‐NH2as a Reusable Nanocatalyst

“…Magnetic nanocatalysts have known as profitable strategy in the green chemistry domain. From a practical viewpoint, magnetic nanoparticles have considerably used in various fields such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), drug delivery, and organic reactions [16–22] . The considerable attention has been paid to the magnetit nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 ) since they possess remarkable properties, for instance, ease of construction and modification, high thermal stability, and high catalyst loading [23] .…”