Abstract
The unique magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles have paved the way for variousbiomedical applications, such as magnetic resonance cellular imaging or magneticallyinduced therapeutic hyperthermia. Living cells interact with nanoparticles by internalizingthem within intracellular acidic compartments. Although no acute toxicity of ironoxide nanoparticles has been reported up to now, the mechanisms of nanoparticledegradation by the cellular environment are still unknown. In the organism, thelong term integrity and physical state of iron-based nanoparticles are challengedby iron homeostasis. In this study, we monitored the degradation of 7 nm sizedmaghemite nanoparticles in a medium mimicking the intracellular environment.Magnetic nanoparticles with three distinct surface coatings, currently evaluated asMRI contrast agents, were shown to exhibit different kinetics of dissolution atan acidic pH in the presence of a citrate chelating agent. Our assessment of thephysical state of the nanoparticles during degradation revealed that the magneticproperties, size distribution and structure of the remaining nanocrystals were identicalto those of the initial suspension. This result suggests a model for nanoparticledegradation with rapidly dissolved nanocrystals and a reservoir of intact nanoparticles.
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