The ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to specifically home to tumors has suggested their potential use as a delivery vehicle for cancer therapeutics. MSC integration into tumors has been shown in animal models using histopathologic techniques after animal sacrifice. Tracking the delivery and engraftment of MSCs into human tumors will need in vivo imaging techniques. We hypothesized that l...

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are widely used in biomedical applications, yet questions remain regarding the effect of nanoparticle size and coating on nanoparticle cytotoxicity. In this study, porcine aortic endothelial cells were exposed to 5 and 30 nm diameter iron oxide nanoparticles coated with either the polysaccharide, dextran, or the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG). Nanop...

The quantification of nanoparticles, particularly superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), both in vitro and in vivo has become highly important in recent years. Some methods, such as induced coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy and UV-visible chemical titration using Prussian Blue (PB), already exist however they consist of the titration of the whole iron content. These standard metho...

Tissue engineering utilizes porous scaffolds as template to guide the new tissue growth. Clinical application of scaffolding biomaterials is hindered by implant-associated infection and impaired in vivo visibility of construct in biomedical imaging modalities. We recently demonstrated the use of a bioengineered type I collagen patch to repair damaged myocardium. By incorporating superparamagnet...

Because of their multifunctionality and unique magnetic properties, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been recognized as very promising materials for various biomedical applications. The main difficulty with the use of SPIONs as multimodal bioimaging agents is their lack of fluorescence. Since cells can act as extremely efficient filters for the elution of surface-bound f...

In this paper, iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method and were functionalized with aldehyde group. Spherical superparamagnetic nanoparticles with diameter of 100 nm were obtained based on the results of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). These particles were further applied for immobilization of enz...

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) with appropriate surface chemistry have been widely used experimentally for numerous in vivo applications such as magnetic resonance imaging contrast enhancement, tissue repair, immunoassay, detoxification of biological fluids, hyperthermia, drug delivery and in cell separation, etc. All these biomedical and bioengineering applications require ...

The constant increase in the number of sustainable products on the global markets demands new biotechnological processing strategies such as the purification and recovery of biocatalysts. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles exhibit excellent recovery properties as carrier materials in enzyme catalysis. We present the simple and fast electrostatic assembly of cellulase (CEL) and low-price...

Development of multifunctional nanoparticles that selectively target to human tumors for in vivo tumor imaging as well as inhibition of tumor growth holds a great promise for improving survival rate of cancer patients. In this study, we have engineered peptide conjugated superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles targeting to urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) or a single ch...

Recent progress in an emerging area of designing aptamer and nanomaterial conjugates as molecular diagnostic and drug delivery agents in biomedical applications is summarized. Aptamers specific for a wide range of targets are first introduced and compared to antibodies. Methods of integrating these aptamers with a variety of nanomaterials, such as gold nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanotu...