Fornara A., Chiavarino A., Qin J., Toprak M.S., Muhammed M.
YKI, Institute for surface chemistry, SE
Keywords: drug delivery, MRI, nanomedicine, nanoparticle, quantum dots
In recent years, a lot of effort has been put to develop smart nanocarriers for drug delivery to increase the efficacy of certain therapeutic drugs. Still the main challenge is to integrate the therapeutic function, such as delivery of drug, with simultaneous diagnostic purposes, such as imaging of cells and tissue. This work deals with the synthesis of multifunctional nanoparticles based on biocompatible di-block copolymer poly (D,L-lactide-co glycolide)-poly(ethylene glycol) via an emulsion-evaporation method. To enable their visualization, these nanoparticles can be loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Quantum Dots in addition to the therapeutic agent Indomethacin (ICM). Since size is one of the crucial parameter to achieve specific cellular interactions, different synthesis parameters were varied to tailor the size of such nanoparticles (range 70-150 nm). TEM analysis show the co-presence of QDs and SPIONs inside the multifunctional nanoparticles. Photoluminescence analysis proved the excellent properties of the multifunctional nanoparticles that can be utilized for in-vitro analysis. MRI in-vivo imaging is greatly enhanced due to the presence of SPION within these nanostructures compared to state-of-art. In-vitro studies have also been performed to confirm the low cytotoxicity and enhanced biocompatibility of such nanoparticles.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2012: Bio Sensors, Instruments, Medical, Environment and Energy (Volume 3)
Published: June 18, 2012
Pages: 4 - 7
Industry sector: Medical & Biotech
Topics: Diagnostics & Bioimaging, Sensors - Chemical, Physical & Bio
ISBN: 978-1-4665-6276-9