Medical applications and biotechnological advances, including magnetic resonance imaging, cell separation and detection, tissue repair, magnetic hyperthermia and drug delivery, have strongly benefited from employing iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) due to their remarkable properties, such as superparamagnetism, size and possibility of receiving a biocompatible coating. Ongoing research efforts focus on reducing drug concentration, toxicity, and other side effects, while increasing efficacy of IONPs-based treatments. This review highlights the methods of synthesis and presents the most recent reports in the literature regarding advances in drug delivery using IONPs-based systems, as well as their antimicrobial activity against different microorganisms. Furthermore, the toxicity of IONPs alone and constituting nanosystems is also addressed.

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Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications: A Perspective on Synthesis, Drugs, Antimicrobial Activity, and Toxicity.

Increasing biomedical applications of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) in academic and commercial settings have alarmed the scientific community about the safety and assessment of toxicity profiles of IONPs. The great amount of diversity found in the cytotoxic measurements of IONPs points toward the necessity of careful characterization and quantification of IONPs. The present document discusses the major developments related to in vitro and in vivo toxicity assessment of IONPs and its relationship with the physicochemical parameters of IONPs. Major discussion is included on the current spectrophotometric and imaging based techniques used for quantifying, and studying the clearance and biodistribution of IONPs. Several invasive and non-invasive quantification techniques along with the pitfalls are discussed in detail. Finally, critical guidelines are provided to optimize the design of IONPs to minimize the toxicity.

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In Vitro/In Vivo Toxicity Evaluation and Quantification of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.

It is imperative to control the interactions between biomaterials and living tissues to optimize their therapeutic effects and disease diagnostics. Because most biomaterials do not have the perfect surface properties and desirable functions, surface modification plays an important role in tailoring the surface of biomaterials to allow better adaptation to the physiological surroundings and deliver the required clinical performance. This paper reviews recent progress pertaining to the surface treatment of implantable macro-scale biomaterials for orthopedic and dental applications as well as micro- and nano-biomaterials for disease diagnosis and drug/gene delivery. Recent advances in surface modification techniques encompassing adsorption, deposition, ion implantation, covalent binding, and conversion have spurred more expeditious development of new-generation biomaterials.

Engineering and functionalization of biomaterials via surface modification

https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/pdf/S0167-7799(15)00244-9.pdf

Christopher A. Sucato

Papers

Effect of PEG Molecular Weight on Stability, T2 contrast, Cytotoxicity, and Cellular Uptake of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs)