SEEDling Grant to Establish Pilot Data for a Consortium on Magnetic Nanoparticle Assemblies: A New Tool for Drug Delivery, Sensors and Electronic Devices

摘要

This project has entailed the development of magnetic materials with potential suitability as vehicles for magnetic field-directed drug delivery, and the design and implementation of a laboratory-scale instrument for measuring the magnetophoretic behavior of new materials in flowing media. Triblock copolymers comprised of hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) tail blocks and a polyurethane anchor block containing carboxylic acid binding groups were designed and synthesized. A method for preparing stabilized dispersions of magnetite nanoparticles coated with the stabilizers was developed, and these coated nanoparticles could be dispersed in water. Dispersions of the particle-copolymer complexes remained stable (did not separate) when these materials were dialyzed rigorously and subjected to repeated centrifugation steps to eliminate potentially toxic extractables. An in-vitro assay of toxicity was developed to assess cell survival in the presence of the magnetite nanoparticle-copolymer complexes. A first generation magnet system was designed in collaboration with our colleagues at Stereotaxis (St. Louis, MO). This research scale magnetic guidance system is now in place at VA Tech.