Magnetic Metal–Organic Framework Based on Zinc and 5-Aminolevulinic Acid: Mr Imaging and Brain Tumor Therapy Publisher



Ebrahimpour A¹ ; Riahi Alam N¹ ; Abdolmaleki P² ; Hajipourverdom B² ; Tirgar F³ ; Ebrahimi T¹ ; Khoobi M^{4, 5}
Source: Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials Published:2021

Abstract

Abstract: Theranostic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising agents for cancer therapy and diagnosis. Herein, Fe3O4@ALA-Zn MOF was prepared and evaluated as an efficient therapeutic and diagnostic agent against brain cancer. Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe NPs) were initially synthesized and then coated with MOF constructed with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and Zinc ions to form a core–shell nanostructure. The prepared system was characterized by FTIR, PXRD, SEM, TEM and EDX analyses confirming formation of the spherical magnetic ALA-based MOFs having average size of about 30 nm. The results of the cytotoxic assay demonstrated that Fe3O4@ALA-Zn MOFs possessed higher toxicity against C6 cancerous cells than HFF normal cells, which confirmed selective toxicity of the system. Furthermore, Fe3O4@ALA-Zn MOF showed higher transverse relaxivity value compared with the naked Fe3O4 NPs (318 vs 293 mM−1 s−1, respectively) and improved sensitivity in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These results indicated that the introduced magnetic MOF could simultaneously function as a selective cancer cell killing agent and T2*-weighted MRI contrast agent. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.