BSA nanoparticles loaded with IONPs for biomedical applications: fabrication optimization, physicochemical characterization and biocompatibility evaluation

Cancer diagnosis in its early stages of progress, can enhance the efficiency of treatment utilizing conventional therapy methods. Non-biocompatibility of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) has made a big challenge against their usage as a contrast agent. Efficient coverage by biomolecules such as albumin can be a solution to overcome this problem. Herein, albumin-coated IONPs were prepared and the process was optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM) to achieve optimum loading of IONPs in albumin nanoparticles. IONPs were incorporated into bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (BSA NPs) matrix, to yield IONPs-BSA NPs. The resulting nanoparticles were characterized physicochemically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The stability test was conducted over 6 months. Under optimum conditions of 2.28 mg for iron weight and pH 9.21, loading of 7.76% was obtained for the spherical IONPs-BSA NPs with the size of 177±12 nm, PDI of 0.222±0.07 and zeta-potential of -36.4±2.3 mV. These findings revealed that more than 90% and 60% of the particles retained their size over four and six months of storage at 4 °C, respectively. In addition, non-cytotoxicity and hemocompatibility of IONPs-BSA NPs were verified in vitro thereby offering them as a biocompatible contrast agent for cancer diagnosis. The IONPs-BSA NPs developed in this study are promising to be further investigated and functionalized with a ligand to obtain a targetable MRI contrast agent for early cancer diagnosis.