Synthesis of cationic magnetite nanoparticles for intracellular protein delivery

Abstract

ABSTRACTIntracellular protein delivery shows great promise in the treatment of various diseases. However, therapeutic applications of this method are limited by its low delivery efficiency and poor targeting ability. As one of most important drug delivery cargoes, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (nFe3O4) have attracted much attention for both therapeutic and diagnostic applications, especially for targeting drug delivery. To use nFe3O4 for protein delivery, a simple but effective modification of nFe3O4 is critical to attach proteins on its surface. In this work, by designing and synthesizing cationic poly(2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMA)‐grafted nFe3O4 via in situ atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), we demonstrate a simple solution to improve interactions between nFe3O4 and proteins. With the grafted PDMA on the surface, nFe3O4 exhibits not only significant enhancement in dispersibility and stability in aqueous phase, but also an excellent capability to attach negative‐charged proteins. Moreover, with the assistance of external magnetic field, PDMA‐grafted nFe3O4 can be used as a targetable vector to deliver proteins into specific cells. This work provides a novel platform based on cationic magnetite nanoparticles that can deliver therapeutic proteins into specific sites for the treatment of various diseases. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40260.