Bare and protein-conjugated Fe3O4 ferromagnetic nanoparticles for utilization in magnetically assisted hemodialysis:biocompatibility with human blood cells

Abstract

Magnetically assisted hemodialysis is a development of conventional hemodialysis and is basedon the circulation of ferromagnetic nanoparticle-targeted binding substance conjugates(FN-TBS Cs) in the bloodstream of the patient and their eventual removal by means of a‘magnetic dialyzer’. Presented here is an in vitro investigation on the biocompatibility of bareFe3O4 FNsand Fe3O4-bovine serum albumin Cs with blood cells, namely red blood cells (RBCs), white bloodcells (WBCs) and platelets (Plts). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical microscopy(OM) enabled the examination of blood cells at the nanometer and micrometer level,respectively. The observations made on FN- and C-maturated blood samples are contrastedto those obtained on FN- and C-free reference blood samples subjected to exactly the samematuration procedure. Qualitatively, both AFM and OM revealed no changes in the overallshape of RBCs, WBCs and Plts. Incidents where bare FNs or Cs were bound onto thesurface of RBCs or internalized by WBCs were very rare. Detailed examination bymeans of OM proved that impaired coagulation of Plts is not initiated/promotedeither by FNs or Cs. Quantitatively, the statistical analysis of the obtained AFMimages from RBC surfaces clearly revealed that the mean surface roughness ofRBCs maturated with bare FNs or Cs was identical to the one of reference RBCs.