Three ethylene glycol modified superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles synthesis, characterization and radiosensitization evaluation on U87-MG cancer cells

Background and Objective: Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) with capabilities such as biocompatibility and selective targeting under direction of an external magnetic field as well as radiosensitization have received extensive interest in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study was synthesis and characterization of three ethylene glycol modified SPIONs and radiosensitization evaluation on U87-MG cancer cells.Materials and Methods: Nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal decomposition method and characterized by TEM, FTIR, VSM and XRD. Cytotoxicity of SPIONs at different concentration containing 5, 25, 50,100 and 200 ug/ml on U87-MG cells was examined by MTT test. Colony assay was performed in order to evaluate radiosensitization properties of SPIONs. The cells were irradiated to doses of 1, 2, 4 and 6 Gy from a 6 MV X ray beam after treatment by nanoparticles. Combination effect between nanoparticles and radiation was evaluated by calculation of combination index (CI) via Compusyn software.Findings: Mean size of SPIONs was 5.4 ± 0.75 nm. FTIR verified SPIONs surface modification by Triethylene glycol (TEG). Saturation magnetization (Ms) of SPIONs was found to be 60 emug-1 at 250C. XRD demonstrated that the nanoparticles are Fe3O4 with highly crystalline particles. MTT assay showed that SPIONs are considerably cytotoxic at concentration above 100 ug/ml. combination of nanoparticles with radiation decreased U87-MG cells survival fraction more than radiation alone but the effect was not synergism.Conclusion: Based on our results SPIONs have shown poor radiosensitization properties against U87-MG cells but further study in vitro and in vivo are needed to confirm this conclusion.

Keywords:

Three ethylene glycol modified SPIONs , 6 MV X rays , U87- MG cell line , radiosensitization