Issue 9, 2023

Optimization of magnetic nanoparticles for engineering erythrocytes as theranostic agents

Abstract

The application of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging, cell tracking, and hyperthermia has been long exploited regarding their inducible magnetic properties. Nevertheless, SPIONs remain rapidly cleared from the circulation by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) or mononuclear phagocyte system, with uptake dependent on several factors such as the hydrodynamic diameter, electrical charge and surface coating. This rapid clearance of SPION-based theranostic agents from circulation is one of the main challenges hampering the medical applications that differ from RES targeting. This work proposes a strategy to render biocompatible SPIONs through their encapsulation in the red blood cells (RBCs). In this work, the research has been focused on the multi-step optimization of chemical synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), precisely iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and zinc manganese-ferrite nanoparticles (Zn/Mn FNPs), for encapsulation in human and murine RBCs. The encapsulation through the transient opening of RBC membrane pores requires extensive efforts to deliver high-quality nanoparticles in terms of chemical properties, morphology, stability and biocompatibility. After reaching this goal, in vitro experiments were performed with selected nanomaterials to investigate the potential of engineered MNP-RBC constructs in theranostic approaches.

Graphical abstract: Optimization of magnetic nanoparticles for engineering erythrocytes as theranostic agents

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Feb 2023
Accepted
07 Mar 2023
First published
08 Mar 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Biomater. Sci., 2023,11, 3252-3268

Optimization of magnetic nanoparticles for engineering erythrocytes as theranostic agents

L. M. Slavu, A. Antonelli, E. S. Scarpa, P. Abdalla, C. Wilhelm, N. Silvestri, T. Pellegrino, K. Scheffler, M. Magnani, R. Rinaldi and R. Di Corato, Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 3252 DOI: 10.1039/D3BM00264K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements