Nitric oxide releasing iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications: cell viability, apoptosis and cell death evaluations

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in several physiological and pathophysiological processes, such as control of vascular tone and immune responses against microbes. Thus, there is great interest in the development of NO-releasing materials to carry and deliver NO for biomedical applications. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been used in important pharmacological applications, including drug-delivery. In this work, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were coated with thiol-containing hydrophilic ligands: mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) and dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA). Free thiol groups on the surface of MSA- or DMSA- coated nanoparticles were nitrosated, leading to the formation of NO-releasing iron oxide nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity of MSA- or DMSA-coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) (thiolated nanoparticles) and nitrosated MSA- or nitrosated DMSA- coated MNPs (NO-releasing nanoparticles) were evaluated towards human lymphocytes. The results showed that MNP-MSA and MNP-DMSA have low cytotoxicity effects. On the other hand, NO-releasing MNPs were found to increase apoptosis and cell death compared to free NO-nanoparticles. Therefore, the cytotoxicity effects observed for NO-releasing MNPs may result in important biomedical applications, such as the treatment of tumors cells.