New research involving the INMA shows how nanoparticle coatings affect their biodistribution and degradation
Magnetic nanoparticles are one of the most widely used tools in biomedicine, thanks to their nanometric size and their optical, thermal and magnetic properties, which allow them to be manipulated with an external magnetic field. Within these nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticles are particularly interesting for use in minimally invasive methods for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, thanks to their magnetic response to external magnetic fields and their low toxicity. Their applications include their use as biosensors, in diagnostic imaging, in the repair of tissues or prostheses, and in the fight against cancer, in hyperthermia treatments and in the selective transport of drugs.
Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), CSIC, the Instituto de Ciencias de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM), CSIC, and the Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA), a joint centre of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the University of Zaragoza, have studied the biotransformation of three types of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with the same iron oxide core, but with different coatings with different surface charges (APS-MNPs (positive), DEX-MNPs (neutral), DMSA-MNPs (negative) in vivo in the liver and spleen of mice. To do this they have used different techniques among which include measures of magnetic susceptibility, a novel technique for this type of study, available at the University of Zaragoza and essential for this study, according to Lucía Gutiérrez, INMA researcher. The results obtained by adding these coatings do not show an increase in the toxicity of MNPs. As for their accumulation in the organs studied, liver and spleen, the three types of MNPs accumulated in both organs, although in different amounts depending on their coating, with APS-MNPs accumulating in greater quantities in the spleen. Moreover, in vivo degradation studies show that the rate of degradation of MNPs depends on the organ in which they are located, being faster in the liver than in the spleen. As Domingo Barber, CNB researcher, comments, “The work is relevant because, in addition to analysing how the nanoparticles are distributed in the different organs, the degradation of the particles has been followed for 15 months after intravenous administration, which has allowed us to observe that the particles degrade earlier in some organs than in others”.
The results of this study make it possible to predict the biodistribution and total degradation of these MNPs particles depending on the physicochemical properties of the coatings used, for their future application in different biomedical therapies such as anti-tumour treatments.
The work led by Domingo Barber, of the CNB, and in which Puerto Morales, of the ICMM, and Lucía Gutiérrez, of the INMA, have worked, has been published in the Journal of Nanobiotechnology.
Reference of the publication: «Different coatings on magnetic nanoparticles dictate their degradation kinetics in vivo for 15 months after intravenous administration in mice». Portilla Y, Fernández-Afonso Y, Pérez-Yagüe S, Mulens-Arias V, Morales MP, Gutiérrez L, Barber DF. J Nanobiotechnology. 2022 Dec. 28;20(1):543. DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01747-5.
Photo: stained areas in liver using nanoparticles with different coatings as a function of time.
11/01/2023
