Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biomedical Applications.

• Grant number: 23/12091-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Paula Silvia Haddad Ferreira
• Grantee: Alessandra Menezes Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) are of great interest in science with applications in various fields, especially in biomedicine, where they are studied as potential carriers for different drugs and theranostic actions. In this field, there is a high demand for treatments for various types of cancer, such as prostate and breast cancer, among others, as well as subsequent infections caused by these diseases. Research on SPIONs falls under potential tumor treatments, as these magnetite-type nanoparticles (Fe3O4) exhibit properties of great interest, such as a high surface area that allows the anchoring of specific drugs, and superparamagnetism that enables the transport of these drugs to the target tumor site through an external magnetic field.Within this context, this project is based on two main aspects. The first aims at the synthesis and physicochemical characterization of magnetite-type SPIONs using the coprecipitation method of iron (II) and (III) salts, and the functionalization of their surfaces with biocompatible molecules containing free thiol groups (SH), such as cysteine (Cys) and glutathione (GSH). Additionally, a bioactive molecule, such as the anti-inflammatory diclofenac potassium, and the natural compound bitter ginger (Zingiber zerumbet) used in herbal treatment to heal ulcerations caused by chronic diseases, will be anchored to these carriers as a model delivery study. Structural, morphological, magnetic characterizations, as well as the study of ligand functionalization efficiency on the surface of these nanoparticles (NPs), and their behavior in aqueous dispersion, will be conducted using various techniques.The second aspect of this project involves cytotoxicity assays of the synthesized systems on healthy cell cultures, such as mononuclear fractions, and on tumor cells, such as breast cancer cells.