Effect of Surface Charge on the Uptake of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Mouse Fibroblast Cells

Abstract

We synthesized surface-charged functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with three polymer coatings. Neutral, positive, and negative MNPs, about 12 nm in size, were obtained by coating with dextran (DEX), aminopropyltriethoxylsilane (APS), and polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS), respectively. The superparamagnetic properties of the MNPs where characterized. DEX-MNPs had the highest biocompatibility but lowest cellular uptake. PSS-MNPs showed excellent biocompatibilty only at lower concentration but cytotoxicity was evident at higher concentration. The cationic APS-MNPs showed excellent uptake performance and good biocompatibility.