Design and development of magnetoliposome-based theranostics

Magnetoliposomes (MLs) consist of nanometre-sized magnetite cores, enwrapped by a bilayer of phospholipid molecules. In the past we showed that these nanocolloids can be exploited as powerful biocompatible magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. In the present work, we report on the partitioning of the amphiphilic drug, (R/S)-propranolol, within the lipidic envelope of MLs, built up of the zwitterionic dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine. Furthermore, it is also shown that MLs are easily internalized by 3T3 fibroblasts, used in this study as a representative cell model, without damaging cell viability. Overall, the results deliver the proof-of-concept that drug-loaded MLs have great potential as unique intracellular theranostics, i.e., as a nanoscale delivery system with combinatory therapeutic-diagnostic imaging modalities.