Table 4.
Summary of iron oxide NPs applications in drug delivery and gene delivery
| Nanoparticle/material | Size (nm) | Applications/results | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| IONPs coated with 2-deoxy-d-glucose and DOX | Pore size: 12 | NPs enhanced chemo-radiotherapy efficiency in breast cancer cells through targeting. Results showed the combined NPs treatment with doxorubicin and 2-deoxy-d-glucose boosted the breast cancer cure through improved radiotherapy | Pirayesh Islamian et al. (2017) |
| Fe3O4 NPs | 9 | Used for treating tumors through cryoablation therapy. Results indicated MCF7 cells were killed efficiently by cryoablation | Ye et al. (2017) |
| Fe3O4 NPs @PEG, folate and cisplatin (Folic acid-Polymer conjugated Fe3O4 NPs with cisplatin) | ~ 10 | Used for ligand-mediated targeting and chemotherapy. Cisplatin-loaded NPs showed concentration dependent cytotoxicity in HeLa cells. Moreover folate conjugation exhibited more cytotoxicity compared to non-conjugated NPs | Yan Zhang (2014) |
| DOX encapsulated Fe3O4 | ~ 12 | Used as a nano-carrier for anticancer drugs like doxorubicin. NPs can be applied as a chemotherapeutic system for treating lung cancers | Ebrahimi et al. (2014a, b) |
| Polydopamine coated Fe3O4 with EGFR antibody and DOX | ~ 60 | Used as a multifunctional composites in diagnosis (MRI imaging) and cancer treatment (chemo-photo thermal therapy). Results showed the combination therapy is efficient enough in killing EGFR expressed tumor cells (colon cancer) | Xupeng Mu (2017) |
| Dextran coated IONPs with FITC and DOX | ~ 8 | Used for drug delivery with multimodal imaging (MRI and FITC Fluorescence) and cancer treatment (drug and hyperthermia) Can be applied for treating pancreatic cancers |
Arachchige et al. (2017) |
| MNPs encapsulated in PLGA with DOX | MNPs: 4–6 DOX-MNPs: 200–300 |
Used as a nano-carrier for drugs like doxorubicin. Results showed DOX-MNPs were internalized in to lung cancer cells (Lewis lung carcinoma cells) and induced apoptosis. Moreover in vivo studies revealed more anti-tumor activity in presence of an external magnetic field | Jia et al. (2012) |
| DOX loaded Fe3O4-reduced graphene oxide | 8–10 | Showed maximum inhibition of HeLa cells with hyperthermia assisted treatment | Gupta (2018) |
| Daunorubicin loaded Fe3O4 NPs | 100 | Used to treat brain glioma. Results showed this drug loaded NPs can be efficiently delivered into blood brain barrier and can act as promising drug to treat blood tumors | Xuhua Mao (2016) |
| Homoharringtonine conjugated Fe3O4 NPs | 11.2 | Used for in vitro and in vivo chemotherapy towards hematological malignancy. Results indicated drug conjugated MNPs injected in tumor bearing mice (leukemia) showed a significant decrease in tumor growth compared to drug treatment alone | Chen et al. (2016) |
| Liposome with paclitaxel and SPIONs | 159–168 | Comprising both MRI and antitumor characteristics. Results showed the tumor growth was supressed in MDA-MB-231 tumor-bearing mice compared to controls | Zheng et al. (2018) |
| Fe3O4 NPs with adriamycin and daunorubicin | – | Used as a combination therapy to treat lymphoma. Results revealed increased apoptosis in Raji cells and upregulation of p53, down regulation of NF-kB was observed with NPs drug combination treatment | Hongmei Jing (2010) |
| Cetuximab-IONPs | – | Both in vitro and in vivo studies revealed anti-tumor efficiency against gliomas | Freeman et al. (2018) |
| Fe3O4 NPs with urosilic metyl esters | 10 | Used as anti-cancer agent for leukaemia. NPs and the drug combination induced apoptosis in drug-resistant human leukemia KA cells | Huilan Yue (2016) |
| Fe3O4 NPs with alendronate | ~ 20 | Used for treating osteoporosis. Results showed NPs-drug exposure decreased the survival rate of osteoclasts compared to control cells and osteoblasts | Lee et al. (2016) |
| LV-MNPs | 10–20 | Can be applied as a combined therapeutic system to target gene expression in cancer cells | Borroni et al. (2017) |
| IONPs with siRNA | IONP core: 9.81 ± 3.73 Conjugated IONs: 12.3 ± 1.4 |
Used for treating pancreatic cancers. The nano-conjugate with siRNA resulted in efficient PLK1 silencing and halted the tumour growth with increase in apoptosis | Mahajan et al. (2016) |
| IONPs loaded chitosan–linoleic acid NPs | 12 | Used as a gene delivering system for targeting hepatocytes and gene silencing | Cheong et al. (2009) |
| IONPs with PTEN gene | – | Used as gene carriers for PTEN and applied for reversing cisplatin-resistance in lung cancer | Ling-feng Min (2012) |