Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biomaterials. 2015 Nov 12;81:46–57. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2015.11.023

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1

Mild Magnetic Hyperthermia-Activated Stem Cell-Based Gene Therapy. A) MCNPs composed of a ZnFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) core and a mesoporous silica (mSi) shell (i) are functionalized with polyethyleneimine (PEI) to allow for complexing with a heat-inducible therapeutic plasmid (iii). The MCNPs enhance delivery of the heat-inducible plasmid into the adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) via magnetically-facilitated uptake (iv–v). These engineered ADMSCs can then be injected in vivo (vi), where they innately home to the tumors/metastases. Finally, mild magnetic hyperthermia, via exposure of the MCNPs to an alternating magnetic field (AMF), can be used to specifically activate the heat-inducible secretion of therapeutic TRAIL from the AD-MSCs (vii). B) The heat-inducible plasmid is composed of a HSP70B’ promoter and a secreted form of TRAIL (sTRAIL) that is fused to an EGFP reporter.