Casein-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for in vitro Hyperthermia for Cancer Therapy

Iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have been a very appealing choice in magnetic-mediated hyperthermia for cancer therapy. The responses of NPs to hyperthermia as a cancer treatment method are complex and variable. Herein, the heating properties of the casein-coated magnetic NPs (MNPs) under an alternating magnetic field were investigated. The casein-coated MNPs were synthesized via one-pot chemical method. The casein-coated MNPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. TEM images of casein-coated MNPs show that their shapes are spherical and their core sizes are between 20 nm and 25 nm. The FTIR and EDAX results confirmed the presence of casein on the surface of MNPs. The VSM shows the superparamagnetic nature of iron oxide and casein-coated iron oxide NPs with the magnetic saturation of 60 emu/g and 44.86 emu/g, respectively, at room temperature. Furthermore, hyperthermia tests for casein-coated MNPs with various concentrations and frequencies are performed. Hyperthermia results show that lower concentrations of casein-coated MNPs dispatch higher heating into their surrounding medium, whereas maximum specific absorption rate occurs at the concentration of 1 mg/mL for the frequency of 150 kHz. Findings of this study suggest that casein-coated MNPs have great potential as an anticancer agent in hyperthermia cancer therapy.