Effect of surface functionality of magnetic silicananoparticles on the cellular uptake by glioma cellsin vitro

Abstract

The cellular uptake efficiency of nanoparticles depends mainly on the surface characteristics of these materials. In this study, amine- and ester-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers were used to functionalize fluorescein-doped magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (FMNPs) to evaluate the effect of surface functionality on cellular uptake by glioma cells. The successful synthesis of these materials was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and zeta potential titration. Neither of these materials showed acute cytotoxicity and it was demonstrated that the different surface functionalities regulated the ability of the nanoparticles to cross cell membranes. In addition to serving as an imaging agent, fluorescein isothiocyanate isomer I (FITC) was used as a model drug to evaluate the drug release rates of these drug delivery systems.