Flame Synthesis and In Vitro Biocompatibility Assessment of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Cellular Uptake, Toxicity and Proliferation Studies

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are used in diverse applications, such as targeted drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging and hyperthermic malignant cell therapy. In the current work, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were produced by flame synthesis, which has improved nanoparticle property control and is capable of commercial production rates with minimal post-processing. The iron oxide nanoparticle material characteristics were analyzed by electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Finally, flame synthesized iron oxide nanoparticle interaction with endothelial cells was compared to commercially available iron oxide nanoparticles. Flame synthesis produced a heterogeneous mixture of 6-12 nm diameter hematite and magnetite nanoparticles with superparamagnetic properties. Endothelial cell scanning electron microscopy, confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy, demonstrated that flame synthesized nanoparticles are ingested into cells in a similar manner to commercially available nanoparticles. The flame synthesized particles showed no statistically significant toxicity difference from commercially available nanoparticles, as measured by Live/Dead assay, Alamar blue, and lactase dehydrogenase release. Neither type of nanoparticle affected cell proliferation induced by fibroblast growth factor-2. These data suggest that combustion synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles are comparable to commercially available nanoparticles for biological applications, yet flame synthesis is a simpler process with higher purity products and lower manufacturing costs. Future work will include functionalizing nanoparticles for specific cell targeting and bioactive factor delivery.