SYNTHESIS OF FERRIMAGNETIC MAGNETITE NANOCUBES COATED WITH POLY(2-(DIMETHYL AMINO)ETHYL METHACRYLATE) FOR APPLICATIONS IN DRUG DELIVERY IN DENTISTRY

Abstract

Well-defined ferromagnetic magnetite nanocubes (FMNCs) with the diameter of around 60 nm were synthesized using a thermal decomposition method at 29ºC with iron-oleate complexes as starting materials resulting in nanostructure with high saturation magnetization. The FMNCs were then coated with poly(2-(dimethyl amino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), a water-soluble, biodegradable, and pH-responsive polymer, in order to become good drug carriers with excellent dispersity in biological buffer, low cytotoxicity, and controllable drug release. The polymer coating was performed using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Furthermore, FMNCs/PDMAEMA were studied for cytotoxicity to fibroblast and raw cells using 3- (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and the result showed that FMNCs/PDMAEMA were biocompatible with those cells with cell viability of more than 80% after incubation with the highest nanocomposites concentration of 100 μg/mL for 24 h in humidified hood at 37oC and 5% CO2. The behavior of model drug alkaline hyperchlorite released from the FMNCs/PDMAEMA indicated that the drug release could be controlled by altering pH of the environment. As a result of successfully synthesized FMCNs/PDMAEMA, dentine infiltration of FMNCs/PDMAEMA was performed. It was observed that FMNCs/PDMAEMA could significantly infiltrate the dentine within 30 min under an external magnetic field, indicating the potential of these composites as transdentinal drug carriers.