Promoting neuroregeneration by applying dynamic magnetic fields to a novel nanomedicine: Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-gold nanoparticles bounded with nerve growth factor (NGF)

Neuroregeneration imposes a significant challenge in neuroscience for treating neurodegenerative diseases. The objective of this study is to evaluate the hypothesis that the nerve growth factor (NGF) functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-gold (Au) nanomedicine can stimulate the neuron growth and differentiation under external magnetic fields (MFs), and dynamic MFs outperform their static counterparts. The SPIO-Au core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) (Diameter: 20.8 nm) possessed advantages such as uniform quasi-spherical shapes, narrow size distribution, excellent stabilities, and low toxicity (viability >96% for 5 days). NGF functionalization has enhanced the cellular uptake. The promotion of neuronal growth and orientation using NGF functionalized SPIO-Au NPs, driven by both the static and dynamic MFs, was revealed experimentally on PC-12 cells and theoretically on a cytoskeletal force model. More importantly, dynamic MFs via rotation performed better than the static ones, i.e., the cellular differentiation ratio increased 58%; the neurite length elongation increased 63%.