Synthesis, characterisation and in vitro evaluation of superparamagnetic iron oxide collagen-coated nanoparticles

Collagen-coated ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide Nanoparticles (USPIO) have been successfully synthesised and characterised. Thermal decomposition from organic precursors followed by oxidation of Nanoparticles (NPs) surfactant, resulted in small and aqueous stable NPs, which were biofunctionalized through collagen coating.
After complete characterisation, preliminary in vitro assays permitted us to evaluate their improved biocompatibility and their magnetic properties as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Their small size, the fact that they are made of a biocompatible material as iron, and their excellent  magnetic properties, make them perfect candidates as biosensors in MRI. Moreover, it is expected that the collagen coating, apart from improving NPs biocompatibility and its blood circulation time, will specifically target matrix metalloproteases (MMP), concretely MMP-1 and MMP-13, which is involved in several inflammatory and oncological processes. Hence, this project is focused in the design of new contrast agents for the detection of inflammatory processes in a non-invasive way.