Multifunctional Fe3O4-Au Nanoparticles for the MRI Diagnosis and Potential Treatment of Liver Cancer.

Elena Kozenkova,Maria V Efremova,Stanislav Pshenichnikov,Dmitry G Zhukov,Oleg Lunov,Anastasiia S Garanina,Ivan Kozenkov,Maxim A Abakumov,Claudio Sangregorio,Yulia A Nalench,Valeria Rodionova,Claudia Innocenti,Kateryna Levada,Martin Albino,Alexander Omelyanchik,Mariia Lunova

doi:10.3390/nano10091646

Abstract

Heterodimeric nanoparticles comprising materials with different functionalities are of great interest for fundamental research and biomedical/industrial applications. In this work, Fe3O4-Au nano-heterostructures were synthesized by a one-step thermal decomposition method. The hybrid nanoparticles comprise a highly crystalline 12 nm magnetite octahedron decorated with a single noble metal sphere of 6 nm diameter. Detailed analysis of the nanoparticles was performed by UV-visible spectroscopy, magnetometry, calorimetry and relaxometry studies. The cytotoxic effect of the nanoparticles in the human hepatic cell line Huh7 and PLC/PRF/5-Alexander was also assessed. These Fe3O4-Au bifunctional nanoparticles showed no significant cytotoxicity in these two cell lines. The nanoparticles showed a good theranostic potential for liver cancer treatment, since the r2 relaxivity (166.5 mM−1·s−1 and 99.5 mM−1·s−1 in water and HepG2 cells, respectively) is higher than the corresponding values for commercial T2 contrast agents and the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value obtained (227 W/gFe) is enough to make them suitable as heat mediators for Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia. The gold counterpart can further allow the conjugation with different biomolecules and the optical sensing.

Highlights

Heterodimeric nanoparticles (NPs) comprising a magnetic and a metal noble moiety, assembled in different architectures, have attracted considerable attention in the recent past
Besides the employment in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostics, the application of magnetic NPs has been envisaged as heat mediators in magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) [20,21,22,23,24], making them the most relevant examples of “theranostic” tools for cancer treatment
Fe3O4-Au nanoheterostructures with an average size of 12 ± 4 nm and 6 ± 1 nm for magnetite and gold counterparts, respectively, were synthesized

Summary

Introduction

Heterodimeric nanoparticles (NPs) comprising a magnetic and a metal noble moiety, assembled in different architectures, have attracted considerable attention in the recent past. One has to bear in mind the potential cytotoxicity of NPs [40,41], which has to be assessed carefully To exploit these results, we checked their validity starting from a realistic biological model, HCC, which represents the natural, physiological target of the injected NPs. This work is focused on the synthesis of Fe3O4-Au nano-heterostructures comprising a small gold nanosphere coupled to octahedral single crystal of magnetite as theranostic agents for liver cancer treatment. This work is focused on the synthesis of Fe3O4-Au nano-heterostructures comprising a small gold nanosphere coupled to octahedral single crystal of magnetite as theranostic agents for liver cancer treatment For this purpose, Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 1646 optical, magnetic, relaxometric and hyperthermic properties of the NPs are analyzed together with biocompatibility, toxicity and contrast efficacy in different human hepatocellular cell models

Materials and Synthesis

Characterization of NPs

Findings

Conclusions