Photodynamic Anticancer Activity of CoFe₂O₄ Nanoparticles Conjugated with Hematoporphyrin

Abstract

This work reports the synthesis and the characterization of water-soluble and biocompatible photosensitizer (PS)-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles composed of a cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) magnetic core coated with a biocompatible hematoporphyrin (HP) shell. The photo-functional cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (CoFe2O4@HP) were uniform in size, stable against PS leaching, and highly efficient in the photo-generation of cytotoxic singlet oxygen under visible light. With the CoFe2O4@HP, we acquired in vitro MR images of cancer cells (PC-3) and confirmed good biocompatibility of the CoFe2O4@HP in both normal and cancer cells. In addition, we confirmed the potential of the CoFe2O4@HP as an agent for photodynamic therapy (PDT) applications. The photodynamic anticancer activities in 25, 50, and 100 μg/mL of CoFe2O4@HP were measured and found to exceed 99% (99.0, 99.4, and 99.5%) (p < 0.002). The photodynamic anticancer activity was 81.8% (p < 0.003). From these results, we suggest that our CoFe2O4@HP can be used safely as a type of photodynamic cancer therapy with potential as a therapeutic agent having good biocompatibility. Moreover, these photo-functional magnetic nanoparticles are highly promising for applications in versatile imaging diagnosis and as a therapy tool in biomedical engineering.

Optimized Photodynamic Therapy with Multifunctional Cobalt Magnetic Nanoparticles

“…Cellular toxicity tests on fibroblasts (L-929 cells) and prostate cancer cells (PC-3 cells) were carried out to confirm the biocompatibility of the CoFe 2 O 4 -HPs-FAs, as previously described [22,30,31,32]. In brief, each cell type was plated in a 24-well plate at 2.0 × 10 5 cells/mL for L-929 cells and at 1.0 × 10 5 cells/mL for PC-3 cells, incubated at 37 °C in 5% CO 2 for 24 h, treated with various concentrations (0 (0), 3.13 (0.4), 6.25 (0.8), 12.5 (1.60), 25 (3.22), and 50 (6.44) μg/mL) of CoFe 2 O 4 -HPs-FAs (HPs), and then incubated at 37 °C in 5% CO 2 for a further 24 h under dark conditions.…”

“…The cells were washed three times with PBS, the medium was refreshed, and the cells were irradiated by a general green light-emitting diode (LED) at 18.36 J/cm 2 as previously reported [22,23,30,31,32]. The LED had a wavelength range of 480–580 nm, a maximum wavelength of 515 nm, and a maximum dose of 18.36 J/cm 2 .…”

Particle Size Dependent Photodynamic Anticancer Activity of Hematoporphyrin-Conjugated Fe3O4Particles

“…To confirm the biocompatibility of Fe 3 O 4 @HPs particles, cytotoxicity tests were performed with fibroblasts (L-929 cells), prostate cancer (PC-3), and breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells, as previously described [19,20,23,24]. Briefly, precultured cells were plated in a 24-well plate at 2.0 × 10 5 cells/mL for L-929, at 1.0 × 10 5 cells/mL for PC-3, and MDA-MB-231 cells.…”

Antioxidant Potential and Antibacterial Efficiency of Caffeic Acid-Functionalized ZnO Nanoparticles

“…First, the FT-IR spectrum of ZnO could not confirm any vibrational peaks of the CA molecules. Second, the IR spectrum of pure CA showed major absorption peaks at 1650, 1450, and 1278 cm −1 , which corresponded to the stretching modes of the free carboxyl double bond (υ C=O ), the carbon–oxygen single bond (υ C-O ), and the O-H deformation (υ C-OH ), respectively (top panel of Figure 4) [26]. Absorption peaks at these positions are consistent with the IR spectrum of protonated carboxyl groups (COOH).…”