Coating of Magnetite Nanoparticles with Fucoidan to Enhance Magnetic Hyperthermia Efficiency.

Joana Gonçalves,Cláudia Nunes,Verónica Bastos,Paula Ferreira,Helena Oliveira,Qing Zhang,Liliana Ferreira,Álvaro Mayoral,Maria Margarida Cruz

doi:10.3390/nano11112939

Abstract

Magnetic nanoparticles (NP), such as magnetite, have been the subject of research for application in the biomedical field, especially in Magnetic Hyperthermia Therapy (MHT), a promising technique for cancer therapy. NP are often coated with different compounds such as natural or synthetic polymers to protect them from oxidation and enhance their colloidal electrostatic stability while maintaining their thermal efficiency. In this work, the synthesis and characterization of magnetite nanoparticles coated with fucoidan, a biopolymer with recognized biocompatibility and antitumoral activity, is reported. The potential application of NP in MHT was evaluated through the assessment of Specific Loss Power (SLP) under an electromagnetic field amplitude of 14.7 kA m−1 and at 276 kHz. For fucoidan-coated NP, it was obtained SLP values of 100 and 156 W/g, corresponding to an Intrinsic Loss Power (ILP) of 1.7 and 2.6 nHm2kg−1, respectively. These values are, in general, higher than the ones reported in the literature for non-coated magnetite NP or coated with other polymers. Furthermore, in vitro assays showed that fucoidan and fucoidan-coated NP are biocompatible. The particle size (between ca. 6 to 12 nm), heating efficiency, and biocompatibility of fucoidan-coated magnetite NP meet the required criteria for MHT application.

Highlights

Regardless of efforts to find new therapies and the considerable progress in medical research, cancer is still one of the biggest causes of death in the world [1,2] with an estimation of 18.1 million new cancer cases and 9.6 million deaths in 2018 [3]
The fucoidan was coated after their synthesis or simultaneously with the synthesis
The NP post-synthesis coated with fucoidan (2 mg mL−1 ) revealed a great thermal efficiency, colloidal stability, and a suitable size, allowing their use for Magnetic Hyperthermia Therapy (MHT)

Summary

Introduction

Regardless of efforts to find new therapies and the considerable progress in medical research, cancer is still one of the biggest causes of death in the world [1,2] with an estimation of 18.1 million new cancer cases and 9.6 million deaths in 2018 [3]. An increase to 27.5 million of new cancer cases by 2040 is expected [4]. Conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT), and surgery, originate side effects (hair loss, bleeding, edema, and fatigue) [5,6], and as such it is extremely urgent that to develop new treatments to overcome these drawbacks with similar or improved efficiency against cancer [1,2]. Hyperthermia appears as an adjuvant alternative in the treatment of cancer [7]. The use of hyperthermia arises from the existence of a distinct response and tolerance to heat between healthy and tumor cells. The heat induces a fast response, which

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Conclusion