Hybrid gold-iron oxide nanoparticles as a multifunctional platform for biomedical application

Clare Hoskins, Yue Min, Mariana Gueorguieva, Craig McDougall, Alexander Volovick, Paul Prentice, Zhigang Wang, Andreas Melzer, Alfred Cuschieri, Lijun Wang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    110 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have increasing applications in biomedicine, however fears over long term stability of polymer coated particles have arisen. Gold coating IONPs results in particles of increased stability and robustness. The unique properties of both the iron oxide (magnetic) and gold (surface plasmon resonance) result in a multimodal platform for use as MRI contrast agents and as a nano-heater.

    Results: Here we synthesize IONPs of core diameter 30 nm and gold coat using the seeding method with a poly (ethylenimine) intermediate layer. The final particles were coated in poly(ethylene glycol) to ensure biocompatibility and increase retention times in vivo. The particle coating was monitored using FTIR, PCS, UV-vis absorption, TEM, and EDX. The particles appeared to have little cytotoxic effect when incubated with A375M cells. The resultant hybrid nanoparticles (HNPs) possessed a maximal absorbance at 600 nm. After laser irradiation in agar phantom a Delta T of 32 degrees C was achieved after only 90 s exposure (50 mu gmL(-1)). The HNPs appeared to decrease T-2 values in line with previously clinically used MRI contrast agent Feridex (R).

    Conclusions: The data highlights the potential of these HNPs as dual function MRI contrast agents and nanoheaters for therapies such as cellular hyperthermia or thermo-responsive drug delivery.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number27
    Number of pages12
    JournalJournal of nanobiotechnology
    Volume10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 25 Jun 2012

    Keywords

    • Magnetic nanoparticles
    • Gold nano-shells
    • Magnetic resonance imaging
    • Surface plasmon resonance
    • Multifunctional nanoparticles

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