Synthesis and Cytotoxicity Assessment of Gold-coated Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Introduction: One class of magnetic nanoparticles is magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) which has been widely offered due to of their many advantages. Owing to the extensive application of MIONs in biomedicine, before they can be used in vivo, their cytotoxicity have to be investigated. Therefore, there is an urgent need for understanding the potential risks associated with MIONs. Materials and Methods: Firstly, gold-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (GMNP) were synthesized. The size, structure and spectroscopic properties of the nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and UV-Visible spectrophotometer, respectively. Cytotoxicity of nanoparticles was studied with different concentrations ranging from 10 μg/mL up to 400 μg/mL and for different incubation times (12 hours and 24 hours) on MCF-7 and HFFF-PI6. Cytotoxicity study was performed by MTT assay. Results: XRD pattern confirmed the structure of GMNPs and TEM image shows that GMNPs are under 50 nm. For MCF-7 and HFFF-PI6 cells, at concentration of 300 and 400 μg/mL, Fe3O4 nanoparticles are toxic, respectively. Moreover, for both cells, cell viability for GMNPs is higher than %80, therefore, up to 400 μg/mL they are not toxic. Results show that for both cells, Fe3O4 nanoparticles have higher cytotoxicity than GMNPs. Conclusion: This finding suggests that gold coating reduces the toxic effects of uncoated Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Less toxicity of GMNP may be attributed to controlled release from Fe2+ ions in intracellular space. Moreover, cell toxicity increased with raise in dose (concentration) and incubation time.