Synthesis of a superparamagnetic iron oxide based nano-complex for targeted cell death of glioblastoma cells

Abstract

In the last ten years, there has been little advancement in the treatment of the aggressive brain cancer Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). This research describes the synthesis of a superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPION)-based nanotheraputic complex for use in targeting and killing aggressive mesenchymal GBM cells. The average sizes and magnetic properties of the synthesized SPIONs are tailored via a novel time-controlled approach to a previously described electrochemical reaction. Through this synthetic method, the optimal particle size where maximal thermal energy is released upon stimulation with an external magnetic field was determined to be 21 nm. The nano-complex was further modified to selectively target GBM cells by adding a heterobifunctional poly(ethylene) glycol polymer crosslinked to TWEAK (a GBM targeting peptide). Preliminary investigation with FITC Annexin V/propidium iodide fluorescent probes and transmission electron microscopy revealed biochemical and morphological evidence of both SPION internalization and cytotoxic effects over the course of three hours. Thus, these nano-complexes hold promise as a potential treatment agent for an otherwise untreatable disease.

Metal-organic frameworks for virus detection

“…And the sensor disposal, large-scale synthesis, fabrication, cost-effectiveness, and recycling are directions in the future (; Yi et al, 2016 ). For instance, the magnetic metal ions ( Terzopoulou et al, 2019 ) (such as Fe 2+ , Co 2+ , and Ni 3+ ) or magnetic particle (i.e., alginate ferrogel ( Kim et al, 2019 ), Fe 3 O 4 ( Nejadshafiee et al, 2019 ), superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPION) ( Tovar et al, 2019 ), artificial bacterial flagella (ABF) ( Wang et al, 2019b ), and Ni-BTC ( He et al, 2019a ), etc.) can be incorporated into the synthesis of MOF to increase its reusability through the magnetic properties of magnetic materials/field.…”

Synthesis, Principles, and Properties of Magnetite Nanoparticles for In Vivo Imaging Applications—A Review

“…In the case of tumors, even if compared to healthy tissues, the tumor microenvironments present a number of aberrant characteristics that are often exploited to develop anticancer therapies [105], many strategies have been worked out to actively target the cancer cells. The use of ligands to decorate SPION surfaces is generally considered, such as transferrin [106] or other specific peptides (TWEAK) [107], to target glioblastoma. However, in general, a variety of tumor cell-specific ligands used to decorate the magnetic nanoparticles are reported in recent literature reports, targeting breast cancer cells (with anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 single-chain antibody fragments) [108], squamous cell carcinoma [109,110], and hepatocellular carcinoma (using single-chain antibodies for the epidermal growth factor receptor) [111].…”

“…As examples, SPIONs were used as sensors to optimize bio-targeting strategies e.g., used as sensors to analyze and optimize the effects of surface properties and composition, in a targeted accumulation in artery models [118] or the cell surface [119]. As a last remark, works on SPIONs synthesis are also and still undertaken, to find alternatives to the (classical) thermal decomposition electrochemical reaction [107], or using enzyme mimicking catalytic nanomaterials as new way synthesis of SPIONs (avoiding thermal decomposition and high temperatures) [23,106].…”

Use of Super Paramagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as Drug Carriers in Brain and Ear: State of the Art and Challenges

“…Polyethylene glycol (PEG) provides both hydrosoluble and liposoluble characteristics to the particles, maintains electroneutrality, and avoids recognition by the reticuloendothelial system to increase blood circulation time [107]. These properties have been exploited in multiple studies [18,40,47,50,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. The efficiency of doxorubicin (DOX) and indocyanine green loaded on 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-PEG-SPIONS (SPION@DSPE-PEG/DOX/ICG) was compared to free DOX and SPION@DSPE-PEG NPs on glioma tumors in rats (n = 38) after the confirmation of their in vitro biocompatibility [66].…”