Magnetic hyperthermia of breast cancer cells and MRI relaxometry with dendrimer-coated iron-oxide nanoparticles.

Background: Recently, some studies have focused on dendrimer nanopolymers as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent or a vehicle for gene and drug delivery. Considering the suitable properties of these materials, they are appropriate candidates for coating iron-oxide nanoparticles which are applied in magnetic hyperthermia. To the best of our knowledge, the novelty of this study is the investigation of fourth-generation dendrimer-coated iron-oxide nanoparticles (G@IONPs) in magnetic hyperthermia and MRI.

Methods: IONPs were synthesized via co-precipitation and coated with the fourth generation (G) of polyamidoamine dendrimer. The cytotoxicity of G@IONPs with different concentrations was assessed in a human breast cancer cell line (MCF) and human fibroblast cell line (HDF). Hemolysis and stability of G@IONPs were investigated, and in addition, the interaction of these particles with MCF cells was assessed by Prussian blue staining. Heat generation and specific absorption rate (SAR) were calculated from measurement and simulation results at 200 and 300 kHz. MCF and HDF cells were incubated with G@IONPs for 2 h and then put into the magnetic coil for 120 min. Relaxometry experiments were performed with different concentrations of G@IONPs with T1- and T2-weighted MR images.

Results: The TEM results showed that G@IONPs were 10 ± 4 nm. The in vitro toxicity assessments showed that synthesized nanoparticles had low toxicity. The viability of MCF cells incubated with G@IONPs decreased significantly after magnetic hyperthermia. In addition, MR imaging revealed that G@IONPs improved transverse relaxivity (r2) significantly.

Conclusions: Our results encouraged the future application of G4@IONPs in magnetic hyperthermia and MR imaging.