Development of biocompatible coatings for magnetic nanoparticles

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Currently, the only approved application of magnetic particles is as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These particles, however, have great untapped potential. They, for example, could be used in many therapeutic applications including magnetically targeted anticancer therapy or magnetically controlled drug delivery to areas where it is difficult to deliver highly potent drugs (such as the eye) without having serious negative side effects on non-targeted organs. To enable therapeutic magnetic targeting, we plan to prepare magnetite nanoparticles with purposefully designed coatings that give them high stability, good biocompatibility, and a "hook" to attach to many different molecules such as antibodies, peptides, fluorescent dyes and drugs. These magnetic nanoparticles will be evaluated on their own and additionally encapsulated in larger magnetic microspheres. The uniform size of these microspheres makes them react in a predictable way to an external magnetic field while they flow through a patient's blood stream. Such predictability has been missing from currently available non-toxic microspheres as they are mixtures of many different sizes. To confirm the success of our strategy, magnetic nanoparticles and microspheres will be evaluated in cell culture and microscopy experiments, followed by an in vivo eye model of magnetic targeting.