Development of multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles for cancer therapy

Abstract

This project aims to develop magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with multifunctional properties for the potential treatment of cancer. For this, different MNPs will be synthesized by sputtering onto liquids and chemically functionalized with rhodamine B (fluorescent molecule), doxorubicin (DOX, antitumor drug) and folic acid (or monoclonal antibodies) to create target-specific nanocarriers with dual image property (magnetic and fluorescent), functional for both diagnosis and cancer therapy. The deeper understanding of the physical and chemical properties of these different materials and its application to cancer therapy by hyperthermia and delivery of antitumor drugs will feature the main objective of this project.To achieve this, the fundamental magnetic properties, shape, size, size distribution and chemical functionalizations of MNPs will be intensively investigated by different experimental techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA), among others. The hyperthermia experiments will be conducted in an adiabatic compartment by measuring the temperature of the system as a function of time in the presence of an alternating magnetic field. The release of drugs will be studied in simulated biological fluids and in normal and tumor commercial cells. (AU)