We present the synthesis of dual-responsive (pH and temperature) magnetic hybrid core-shell nanoparticles (NP's) via the �grafting-from� approach. For this purpose, dopamine bearing an ATRP initiating group was attached to the surface of oleic acid stabilized maghemite (?-Fe2O3) NP's. Subsequently, surface initiated polymerization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate yielded dual-responsive core-shell NP's. The hybrid particles are highly stable in aqueous media, exhibiting excellent solubility and stability, although the attachment of the dopamine anchor group is shown to be reversible to a certain extent. Moreover, the hybrid NP's were used for complexing DNA resulting in �nano-carriers� for non-viral gene delivery under standard conditions in CHO-K1 cells. Remarkably, we observed a twofold increase of the transfection efficiency without increasing the cytotoxicity as compared to poly(ethylene imine) and yielded on average more than 50 % transfected cells. Due to the magnetic properties of the hybrid material the transfected cells could be selectively separated.

Dual-responsive magnetic core-shell nanoparticles for non-viral gene delivery and cell separation

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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