Publications

Abstract : Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) can be used in a wide variety of biomedical applications like contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic labeling, controlled drug release, hyperthermia, and in cell isolation. Most of these applications need distinct and controllable interactions between the MNPs and living cells and can be made possible by a proper functionalization technique. This paper describes a computational approach for the identification of magnetic nanoparticles for the development, design, and demonstration of a novel, incorporated system for selective and rapid removal of biological, chemical, and radioactive biohazards from human body. The attraction between an external magnetic field and the MNPs facilitate separation of a wide variety of biological materials. This principle can be used for the isolation and aggregation of wandering cancer cells from the blood or the bone marrow to make a proper and early diagnosis of leukemia. Similarly, toxins, kidney stones, and other unwanted particles in the human body can be easily diagnosed and removed by the same technique. Nanoparticle-sized iron oxides have been studied in this work by computational modeling and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation techniques. Structural, thermodynamic, and magnetic properties have been formulated. In this work, nanoparticles of size varying from 0.5 to 2.5 nm have been analyzed. Cell isolation ability of the nanoparticles has been compared based on the computational results. MNPs are biologically activated and permitted to bind with the targeted cells through various pathways, thereby allowing certain cellular compartments to be specifically addressed. Once the cells are identified, the preferred cellular compartments can be magnetically isolated and removed with the help of an external magnetic field. Out of the iron oxides analyzed in this work, 1.1 nm Fe 3O 4 is found to be most interacting with leukemia protein. Hence, leukemia cells can be effectively targeted, separated, and removed using Fe 3O 4 of the suggested dimension. © 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.