“…Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are biocompatible and have been extensively studied for biomedical applications, as they can offer a high potential in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), drug delivery, hyperthermal therapies, and bio-separation, among others. − These applications benefit from superparamagnetism due to the magnetization generated in the presence of an external magnetic field, and its disappearance when the field is turned off, making it one of the most promising possibilities for use in these biomedical purposes. , Nanoparticles, due to their large surface-to-volume ratio, need appropriate surface functionalization to avoid colloidal instability and, to this end, oleic acid (OA) represents a widely studied biomolecule that offers a highly stable surface coating for magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles. − OA can interact through chelating chemisorption between the COO – group of carboxylic acid and the iron atom; moreover, if OA is present as a monolayer over the nanoparticle surface, it imparts hydrophobic characteristics because the hydrocarbon chains are located pointing toward the outside. ,− In addition, OA has been reported as a lipid having a positive fusogenic activity, which is capable of promoting the fusion of liposomes and red blood cells. ,,− Regarding the differences between carboxylic acids that act as fusogenic agents and those that are unable to promote fusion, it was proposed that the fusogenic ones tend to have a lower melting temperature than those that are non-fusogenic, and this has led to the proposal that lipids which can induce fusion increase the “fluidity” of the plasma membrane. Dissimilarities have also been observed in the interaction of fusogens and non-fusogenic carboxylic acids with phospholipids in monomolecular films. , Carboxylic acids that possess fusogenic activity exhibit deviations from the ideal behavior when mixed with monolayers of phosphocholine lipids, while such deviations are not observed with non-fusogenic carboxylic acids. , In our previous work related to the study of monolayer mixing behavior of different choline phospholipids with hydrophobic magnetite nanoparticles coated with oleic acid (MNP-OA), we observed that the nanoparticles behaved in a similar way to that of OA, and this allowed us to envisage a possible activity of MNP-OA as fusogens …”