The endocytic penetration mechanism of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles with positively charged cover: a morphological approach.

In this study we present a morphological approach in observing the interaction of cationic magnetic nanoparticles with A-549 cells (human lung adenocarcinoma). Under our experimental conditions, nanoparticles easily penetrated cells and were observed in vivo, using bright light microscopy. In fixed cells, nanoparticles remained inside cells, showing quantity and distribution patterns similar to those in unfixed cells. The presence of nanoparticles did not affect cell viability or the morphologic parameters assessed. We determined the potential internalization mechanism of nanoparticles into cells using endocytosis inhibitors. The results suggest that nanoparticles used in this study penetrate A-549 cells mainly through a macropinocytosis process.