Insight into the Internal Structure of High-Performance Multicore Magnetic Nanoparticles Used in Cancer Thermotherapy

Tuesday publication update! In this newest publication from Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, the team of Suzanne Giorgio has looked at magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for cancer treatment, particularly in magnetic hyperthermia for pancreatic cancer. The authors use the #PoseidonAX system to explore the intricate internal structure of high-performance MNPs. Studies like these show that liquid phase TEM is becoming vital to understand these life-science type experiments to understand the behavior of nanoparticles in their native environment! ✨

Multimodal TEM Analysis: Using conventional, high-resolution, scanning, cryogenic, and liquid-phase TEM, authors revealed a complex internal structure consisting of irregular dextran lamellae and nanorods with well-dispersed iron oxide cores.

❄️Structural Insights: Cryogenic electron tomography provided clarity on the nanorods, identifying them as edge-on lamellae, while drying effects in conventional tomography showed rod or lath-shaped forms.

Core-Core Interactions: Magnetic remanence Henkel-plot analysis pointed to a weak core-core interaction field which corresponds to a core separation of ~5 nm. This matches well with the 4-6 nm separation seen in liquid-cell TEM.

These findings help to make decisions on the design of nanomaterials optimized for medical applications, demonstrating the vital role of structure-function relationships in achieving high-performance outcomes.

The video below shows the ❄️ cryo TEM measurements of the nanoparticles, tilted every 2° from 0 to +30°.

Read the full publication here:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsmaterialsau.4c00021

Want to know more about our #PoseidonAX system? Find more information here:
https://www.protochips.com/solutions/in-situ-tem-solutions/in-situ-liquid-cell/

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