Effect of Surface Modification on Cellular Internalization of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles in Strong Static Magnetic Field

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) controlled by alternating mangetic field (AMF) are widely investigated in biomedical applications, while the effects of strong static magnetic field (SMFs) on mammalian cells with MNPs for drug-delivery, magnetic resource imaging and magnetofection have been evaluated poorly. Although surface modifications provide a suitable system for expanding the bioapplication of MNPs, the viability and the cellular internalization of modified MNPs which stands for their biocompatibility and efficiency in application need to be examined urgently. In present study, human lung cancer cells (A549), a well-known epithelial cell model for drug metabolism research, were used to evaluate the effects of strong SMFs on cellular internalization and cell viability of Fe3O4 MNPs modified by chitosan, dextran, polyacrylamide, polyethylene glycol, phosphatidylcholine, cationic-charged and anionic-charged. The cationic-charged and phosphatidylcholine-coated Fe3O4 MNPs could increase the cellular uptaken in a dose dependent manner and the particles caused a vacuolar appearance in A549 cells. With exposure to 8.5 T SMF, the assay of ATP content showed that anionic-charged and phosphatidylcholine-coated Fe3O4 MNPs changed the energy metabolism of A549 cells, which might be consistent with the observation in cellular internalization. The cell viability and proliferation of A549 cells were all slightly affected by various modified MNPs with or without 8.5 T SMF exposure.