Photothermal effects and toxicity of Fe3O4 nanoparticles via near infrared laser irradiation for cancer therapy

Andrew W Dunn; Sadat M Ehsan; David Mast; Giovanni M Pauletti; Hong Xu; Jiaming Zhang; Rodney C Ewing; Donglu Shi

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2014.09.043

Photothermal effects and toxicity of Fe3O4 nanoparticles via near infrared laser irradiation for cancer therapy

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2015 Jan:46:97-102. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2014.09.043. Epub 2014 Oct 7.

Authors

Andrew W Dunn¹, Sadat M Ehsan², David Mast², Giovanni M Pauletti³, Hong Xu⁴, Jiaming Zhang⁵, Rodney C Ewing⁵, Donglu Shi⁶

Affiliations

¹ The Materials Science and Engineering Program, Dept. of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
² Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
³ The James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
⁴ Nano Biomedical Research Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
⁵ Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
⁶ The Materials Science and Engineering Program, Dept. of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA; Shanghai East Hospital, The Institute for Biomedical Engineering & Nano Science, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200120, China. Electronic address: donglu.shi@uc.edu.

PMID: 25491964
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2014.09.043

Abstract

The photothermal effect of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles was characterized by photonic absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Upon laser irradiation at 785 nm, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles generate localized hyperthermia in tumorous lesions, which is an effective strategy for cancer therapy; however, uncoated magnetite possesses an innate toxicity which can lead to drawbacks in the clinical setting. To reduce innate toxicity, a poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) coating on the nanoparticles was investigated in order to determine the alterations to stability and the degree of toxicity in an attempt to create a higher utility vector. It was found that the PAA coating significantly reduced the innate toxicity of the uncoated magnetite. Furthermore, the efficacy of PAA-coated magnetite nanoparticles (PAA-Fe3O4) was investigated for treating MDA-MB-231 (human mammary gland adenocarcinoma) cultures in viable concentration ranges (0.1-0.5mg/ml). An appropriate PAA-Fe3O4 concentration range was then established for inducing significant cell death by hyperthermic ablation, but not through innate toxicity.

Keywords: Cancer therapy; Hyperthermia; Nanomedicine; Nanotechnology; Photothermal effect.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Acrylic Resins / chemistry*
Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry*
Antineoplastic Agents / toxicity
Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
Biocompatible Materials / toxicity
Cell Line, Tumor
Cell Survival / drug effects
Humans
Infrared Rays*
Lasers
Magnetite Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Magnetite Nanoparticles / toxicity
Neoplasms / therapy
Phototherapy*

Substances

Acrylic Resins
Antineoplastic Agents
Biocompatible Materials
Magnetite Nanoparticles
carbopol 940