RESUMO
To develop novel multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with good magnetic properties, biocompatibility, and anticancer activities by photodynamic therapy (PDT), we synthesized multifunctional cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles (CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs) functionalized by coating them with hematoporphyrin (HP) for introducing photo-functionality and by conjugating with folic acid (FA) for targeting cancer cells. We evaluated the activities of the CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs by checking magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in vitro, its biocompatibility, and photodynamic anticancer activities on FA receptor (FR)-positive and FR-negative cancer cell lines, Hela, KB, MCF-7, and PC-3 cells, to use for clinical applications. In this study, we have demonstrated that the CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs have good MRI and biocompatibility with non-cytotoxicity, and remarkable photodynamic anticancer activities at very low concentrations regardless of cell types. Particularly, the photo-killing abilities in 3.13 µg/mL of CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs were measured to be 91.8% (p < 0.002) for Hela, 94.5% (p < 0.007) for KB, 79.1% (p < 0.003) for MCF-7, and 71.3% (p < 0.006) for PC-3. The photodynamic anticancer activities in 6.25 and 12.5 µg/mL of CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs were measured to be over 95% (p < 0.004) to almost 100% regardless of cell types. The newly developed multifunctional CoFe2O4-HPs-FAs are effective for PDT and have potential as therapeutic agents for MRI-based PDT, because they have a high saturation value of magnetization and superparamagnetism.
