Title: Enhanced tumour-imaging efficacy of 5-aminolevulinic acid complexed with iron oxide nanoparticles

Authors: Tomoya Origuchi, Jun-ichiro Jo, Yoshiaki Hirano, Yasuhiko Tabata

Addresses: Department of Biomaterials, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, 53 Kawara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8507, Japan; Department of Applied Chemistry, Osaka Institute of Technology, Osaka 535-8585, Japan. ' Department of Biomaterials, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, 53 Kawara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. ' Faculty of Chemistry, Materials and Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Kansai University, Osaka 564-8680, Japan. ' Department of Biomaterials, Field of Tissue Engineering, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, 53 Kawara-cho Shogoin, Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8507, Japan

Abstract: The objective of this study was to prepare the complexes of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) and iron oxide nanoparticles with different surface potentials and evaluate the imaging efficiency for mouse melanoma cells (B16 cells). The ferric and ferrous ions were co-precipitated in the presence of pullulan or the cationised and anionised derivatives to prepare iron oxide-pullulan nanoparticles (IOPNs). The surface potential of IOPN was changed by altering the mixing percentage of pullulan derivatives. The 5-ALA was mixed with the IOPN of different surface potentials to obtain IOPN–5-ALA complexes. When incubated with IOPN–5-ALA complexes, B16 cells exhibited the fluorescence of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) bio-synthesised from 5-ALA internalised. The time profile of PpIX fluorescence percentage was greatly influenced by the surface potential of IOPN. This finding indicates that IOPN is a promising carrier for 5-ALA-based imaging of tumour cells.

Keywords: tumour imaging; iron oxide nanoparticles; surface potentials; pullulan; melanoma cells; nanotechnology; tumour cells; nanocarriers; cancer cells.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2011.037174

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2011 Vol.8 No.1/2, pp.146 - 158

Published online: 30 Nov 2010 *

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