Final Report Summary - NANOPUZZLE (Multifunctional Magnetic Nanoparticles: Towards Smart Drugs Design.)
The NANOPUZZLE project main goal is to develop a multifunctional nanosystem for cancer treatment. The core of the project consists of synthesizing magnetic nanoparticles decorated with different biomolecules, i.e. heat sensitive biomolecules, tumoral targeting agents and cancer drugs, which can be released due to the local heat produced in the vicinity of magnetic nanoparticles under the influence of an alternating magnetic field. At this point we are already able to synthesize magnetic nanoparticles, using an approach that not only allows their transfer to an aqueous solution but also confers the nanoparticles’ surface with functional groups for posterior modification. Several functionalization strategies based on these nanoparticles have been developed where we were able to modify their surface with a broad range of different molecules such as carbohydrates, fluorophores and nucleic acids. In the case of the carbohydrate modified nanoparticles it has been demonstrated that these can be internalized by cells. With the nucleic acid modified nanoparticles we have been able to hybridize complementary DNA sequences. It has also been possible to achieve their denaturation through local heating induced by an alternating magnetic field. Since one of the project objectives is to achieve highly specific multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles, we have been able to modify DNA sequences with folic acid, a targeting agent, for posterior hybridization with the nucleic acid modified nanoparticles.