Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles  (SPIONs) are widely used pre-clinically as contrast agents for stem cell tracking using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The total mass of iron oxide that can be internalised into cells without altering their viability or phenotype is an important criterion towards the generation of contrast, and SPIONs designed for efficient labelling of stem cells can allow an increased sensitivity of detection.<br/><br/>We have synthesised a series of cationic SPIONs with very similar hydrodynamic diameters and surface charges and report how subtle changes in the amount of polymer used in the co-precipitation synthesis can affect thecore size and therefore modulate not only the the magnetic properties of the SPIONs but also their uptake into stem cells. SPIONs with the largest core size presented the highest relaxivity and uptake into stem cells, significantly affecting the amount of contrast that can be generated. We explore how cell internalisation affects the relaxometric properties of SPIONs and how that can affect the imaging of SPION labelled stem cells. Physiochemical properties of SPIONs were characterised using DLS, zeta potential, UV-Vis, TGA, pXRD, magnetic resonance and SQUID magnetometry.We also used magnetic separation to investigate how the size and surface charge of SPIONs can change after exposure to cell culture medium.

Co-precipitation of SPIONs for stem cell tracking: How synthesis conditions affect particle properties, stem cell labelling, and MR contrast

251st National Meeting (2016)

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