The use of dopamine-hyaluronate associate-coated maghemite nanoparticles to label cells

Michal Babic^1,2, Daniel Horak^1,2, Pavla Jendelova^2,3, Vit Herynek^2,4, Vladimir Proks^1,2, Vaclav Vanecek^2,3, Petr Lesny^2,3, Eva Sykova^2,3
1Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Heyrovsky Sq 2, ²Center for Cell Therapy and Tissue Repair, Charles University, V Uvalu 84, ³Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Videnska 1083, ⁴Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Videnska 1958, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract: Sodium hyaluronate (HA) was associated with dopamine (DPA) and introduced as a coating for maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles obtained by the coprecipitation of iron(II) and iron(III) chlorides and oxidation with sodium hypochlorite. The effects of the DPA anchorage of HA on the γ-Fe₂O₃ surface on the physicochemical properties of the resulting colloids were investigated. Nanoparticles coated at three different DPA-HA/γ-Fe₂O₃ and DPA/HA ratios were chosen for experiments with rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and human chondrocytes. The nanoparticles were internalized into rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells via endocytosis as confirmed by Prussian Blue staining. The efficiency of mesenchymal stem cell labeling was analyzed. From among the investigated samples, efficient cell labeling was achieved by using DPA-HA-γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with DPA-HA/γ-Fe₂O₃ = 0.45 (weight/weight) and DPA/HA = 0.038 (weight/weight) ratios. The particles were used as a contrast agent in magnetic resonance imaging for the labeling and visualization of cells.

Keywords: nanoparticles, dopamine, hyaluronate, cell labeling, magnetic