Using Glucose-bound Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles as Photothermal Agents for Targeted Hyperthermia of Cancer Cells

Abstract

Cancer remains as a top leading cause of death for decades. Thus, efforts have been devoted in exploring effective therapeutic methods of treating patients suffering from the disease. In this study, we proposed a targeted hyperthermia approach that can be used to inhibit the growth of cancer cells by combining functional iron oxide (Fe3O4) magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with illumination of near-infrared (NIR) light. Cancer cells express more glucose receptors on their cell membrane than normal cells. Furthermore, Fe3O4 MNPs are known to possess photothermal features. An aqueous solution containing the generated MNPs (1 μg μL-1, 100 μL) can be heated from 37°C to over 50°C under irradiation of a NIR laser (808 nm) within 3 min. We immobilized glucose-6-phosphate on the surface of Fe3O4 MNPs (Glu-Fe3O4 MNPs) through phosphate-Fe(III) chelation and used the generated glucose functionalized MNPs as probes to target cancer cells, i.e., hepatocellular, breast, and prostate cancer cells, in which different amounts of Glu receptors were expressed in their cell membrane. After irradiating the MNP-target cell conjugates using a NIR laser (808 nm), the growth of cancer cells containing more Glu receptors can be better inhibited than normal cells containing fewer receptors within 1 min. More than 90% of these cancer cells were killed under NIR light irradiation within 3 min. The results showed that the Glu-Fe3O4 MNP-targeted hyperthermia approach can effectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells. On the basis of the targeting capacity of the Glu-Fe3O4 MNPs against cancer cells, the Glu-Fe3O4 MNP probes can be potentially used as universal probes for the photothermal hyperthermia of cancer cells.