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[Formula: see text]nm and 25[Formula: see text]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[Formula: see text]emu/g and 44.86[Formula: see text]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[Formula: see text]mg/mL for the frequency of 150[Formula: see text]kHz. Findings of this study suggest that casein-coated MNPs have great potential as an anticancer agent in hyperthermia cancer therapy.