LyP-1-conjugated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles suppress tumor growth by magnetic induction hyperthermia

To find a promising drug carrier to suppress tumor using magnetic induction hyperthermia (MIH) and targeted therapy, two superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and LyP-1, respectively, were prepared and compared. The particle size ranges of PEG-SPIONs and LyP-1-SPIONs were 10-15 nm, and 15-20 nm, respectively. In FTIR spectra, PEG-SPIONs and LyP-1-SPIONs had strong peaks between 575 and 1630 cm^-1. Specifically, the PEG-SPIONs mainly has peaks in 581 and 1630 cm^-1. The LyP-1-SPIONs mainly had peaks in 575, 1050 and 1625 cm^-1. The contents of Fe₃O₄ in the PEG-SPIONs and LyP-1-SPIONs were about 94.24 and 89.26%, respectively. The iron contents in the MCF-7 and CT-26 cells were 33.1 ± 1.8 and 27.9 ± 0.95 pg, respectively, after co-incubation with LyP-1-SPIONs for 8 h. The LyP-1-SPIONs accumulated in the nucleus of MCF-7 cells while PEG-SPIONs in cytoplasma. In vitro, after 30 days we can found the tumor almost stopped to grow in Group LyP-1-SPIONs. LyP-1-SPIONs are promising in treating cancer as they accumulated in the nucleus of MCF-7 cells which expressed p32 and almost stopped tumor growth by combined MIH and targeted therapy.