Surface modification of super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles via milk casein for potential use in biomedical areas.

Super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have proved that they have tremendous potential to use in various biomedical applications. But the surface of pure iron oxide nanoparticles so fast oxidized, that is a major drawback for biomedical applications. Covered SPIONs have good surface activity. Therefore, the first goal was to synthesize the naked SPIONs. Then we modified with 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and trichlorotriazine (TCT). Several techniques measurements were used for characterization the size and special features of naked SPIONs and TCT modified SPIONs. These results show that the SPIONs were synthesized. After that the SPIONs are coated with casein and indicate that there is an interaction between them. Moreover, we have investigated magnetic properties and anticancer effects of casein-coated SPIONs. Therefore, we showed casein could be used to increase the biocompatibility of the surface of SPIONs. At the end, we show that bonding of dipyridamole (DIP) to the surface of casein-coated SPIONs have good magnetite properties for targeted drug delivery. We find that the release of DIP by casein-coated SPIONs-DIP was sensitive to pH. Both release curves in pH 5.5 and 7.4 showed the release of DIP by β-casein coated SPIONs-DIP better than α-casein coated SPIONs-DIP. The cell culture studies of the casein-coated SPIONs-DIP provide good anticancer effects against both breast and prostate cancer cell lines. Here, we propose a simple and inexpensive chemical method for preparation of highly biocompatible core-shell SPIONs and binding of drug for using in targeted drug delivery system. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.