The cytotoxicity of iron oxide nanoparticles with different modifications evaluated in vitro

The toxicity of magnetite nanoparticles modified with bioavailable materials such as dextran, bovine serum albumin, polyethylene glycol, and polyvinylpyrrolidone was studied in normal and cancer cells. The size distribution and magnetic properties of the modified magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by different techniques. Transmission electron microscopy showed a nearly spherical shape of the magnetite core with diameters ranging from 4 to 11 nm. Dynamic light scattering was employed to monitor the hydrodynamic size and colloidal stability of the magnetic nanoparticles: Z-average hydrodynamic diameter was between 53 and 69 nm and zeta potential in the range from −35 to −48 mV. Saturation magnetization of the modified nanoparticles was 55–64 emu/gFe3O4. Prepared biocompatible nanoparticles had no significant toxic effect on Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cell line V79, but they substantially affected mouse melanoma B16 cell line.