Reihaneh Rahmani - Immunology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Majid Darroudi - Nuclear Medicine Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Mohsen Gharanfoli - Immunology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Jamshidkhan Chamani - Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran
Mehran Gholamin - Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedical Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Maryam Hashemi - Departments of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Objective(s): Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been considered promising non-invasive imaging tools in medicine. However, their high surface energy leads to NPs aggregation, while non-targeted SPIONs can cause cytotoxic effects on normal cells. In this work, we evaluated the in vitro potential of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-SPIONs targeted by PNC۲۷ peptide as a double targeting agent throughout early cancer diagnosis.Materials and Methods: Initially, PEI was conjugated to PNC۲۷ with HDM-۲-binding domain. Then, SPIONs were loaded into PEI-PNC۲۷ through the ligand exchange method. The physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized NPs were evaluated. The cytotoxicity and targeting efficiency were assayed against HT-۲۹ and CT-۲۶ cell lines along with NIH-۳t۳ as normal cells by MTT method and Prussian blue staining test, respectively. Results: The mean diameter of synthesized carriers was obtained in the range of ۸۶.۶ – ۱۱۶.۱ nm with a positive charge. According to the cytotoxicity results, the binding and uptake abilities of the PNC۲۷ peptide by cancer cells were significantly higher than that of the NIH-۳t۳ cells. However, the results were indicative of the more toxic impacts of targeted synthesized NPs against CT-۲۶ cancer cell line when being compared with HT-۲۹ cells, which may be caused by the different cytotoxicity mechanisms of NPs. In addition, the targeted carriers and SPIONs were present inside and around the cells with HDM-۲ expression along with only a few non-targeted vectors, while displaying no appearance throughout the normal cell.Conclusion: The results indicated the efficiency of targeted PEI-coated SPIONs for cancer diagnostic applications.

B-PEI, Cytotoxicity effect, PNC۲۷ peptide, SPIONs, Targeted cancer diagnostic