Targeting of TRAIL conjugated maghemite nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have become increasingly important for cutting-edge applications in biomedicine due to their biocompatibility and attractive magnetic properties. Super-paramagnetic maghemite nanocrystals possess... [ view full abstract ]

Iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have become increasingly important for cutting-edge applications in biomedicine due to their biocompatibility and attractive magnetic properties. Super-paramagnetic maghemite nanocrystals possess high magnetic susceptibility, low remanence, low coercivity, and high saturation magnetization. These properties make them ideal candidates for various biomedical applications including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetically controlled drug delivery (MCDD) and magnetic hyperthermia (MH) [1].
The use of these NPs for in-vivo diagnostics and/or therapy assays requires their coupling through covalent bonding to bioactive molecules (antibodies, enzymes, proteins, DNA, etc.).
TRAIL is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. This protein is able to specifically bind to its receptor which is expressed at the surface of cancer cells and induces cell death [2].
Maghemite nanoparticles (MNP) with diameter of 10 and 100 nm were synthetized by the polyol method, coated with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES)[3] and coupled to TRAIL protein. The ratio of TRAIL per NP was estimated by Prussian blue and protein assay. The magnetic properties were checked by SQUID before and after grafting. The efficiency of the targeting was checked in cellulo in different cell lines (HCT116, HEPG2, etc.). The resulting magnetic nanovector (NV) seems to be a good candidate for biomedical applications such as cancer therapy.

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2. Zakaria, A.B., et al., Nanovectorization of TRAIL with single wall carbon nanotubes enhances tumor cell killing. Nano Lett, 2015. 15(2): p. 891-5.
3. Piraux, H., et al., Nanoparticles and the Transferrin-Receptor-1 iron-Acquisition Pathway – Synthesis, Kinetics, Thermodynamics and Cellular Internalization of a Holotransferrin-Maghemite Construct. . Biochim. Biophys. Acta. , 2013. 1830 p. 4254–4264.