1.
Nanoscale
; 3(11): 4597-9, 2011 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21987181
ABSTRACT
A strong focus on Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIOs) has been appreciated recently especially for their use in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). However, some questions are being raised over these particles due to their long-term toxicity related to the production of toxic free iron during their biodegradation. Here we show by Electron Microscopy how SPIOs (P904) (Guerbet, Paris) are degraded after they are taken up by macrophages, so that iron from the SPIO core is progressively incorporated into the iron-storing protein ferritin (a nontoxic form of iron).