Université de Fribourg

Phase transformation of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles via thermal annealing: implications for hyperthermia applications

Crippa, Federica ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Hua, Xiao ; Goris, Bart ; Bals, Sara ; Garitaonandia, José S. ; Balog, Sandor ; Burnand, David ; Hirt, Ann M. ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Lattuada, Marco ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2019, vol. 2, no. 7, p. 4462–4470

Magnetic hyperthermia has the potential to play an important role in cancer therapy and its efficacy relies on the nanomaterials selected. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are excellent candidates due to the ability of producing enough heat to kill tumor cells by thermal ablation. However, their heating properties depend strongly on crystalline structure and size, which may...

Université de Fribourg

Polymer-coated gold nanospheres do not impair the innate immune function of human b lymphocytes in vitro

Hočevar, Sandra ; Milošević, Ana ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Ackermann-Hirschi, Liliane ; Mottas, Inès ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Bourquin, Carole ; Clift, Martin James David

In: ACS Nano, 2019, vol. 13, no. 6, p. 6790–6800

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are intended for use within a variety of biomedical applications due to their physicochemical properties. Although, in general, biocompatibility of GNPs with immune cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells is well established, the impact of GNPs on B lymphocyte immune function remains to be determined. Since B lymphocytes play an important role in health and...

Université de Fribourg

A hydrofluoric acid-free method to dissolve and quantify silica nanoparticles in aqueous and solid matrices

Bossert, David ; Urban, Dominic A. ; Maceroni, Mattia ; Ackermann-Hirschi, Liliane ; Haeni, Laetitia ; Yajan, Phattadon ; Spuch-Calvar, Miguel ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Schwab, Fabienne

In: Scientific Reports, 2019, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 7938

As the commercial use of synthetic amorphous silica nanomaterials (SiO2-NPs) increases, their effects on the environment and human health have still not been explored in detail. An often-insurmountable obstacle for SiO2-NP fate and hazard research is the challenging analytics of solid particulate silica species, which involves toxic and corrosive hydrofluoric acid (HF). We therefore developed...

Université de Fribourg

Artificial lysosomal platform to study nanoparticle long-term stability

Milosevic, Ana ; Bourquin, Joël ; Burnand, David ; Lemal, Philipp ; Crippa, Federica ; Monnier, Christophe A. ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara

In: CHIMIA International Journal for Chemistry, 2019, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 55–58

Nanoparticles (NPs) possess unique properties useful for designing specific functionalities for biomedi- cal applications. A prerequisite of a safe-by-design and effective use in any biomedical application is to study NP–cell interactions to gain a better understanding of cellular consequences upon exposure. Cellular uptake of NPs results mainly in the localization of NPs in the complex...

Université de Fribourg

Nanoparticle administration method in cell culture alters particle-cell interaction

Moore, Thomas L. ; Urban, Dominic A. ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Milosevic, Ana ; Crippa, Federica ; Spuch-Calvar, Miguel ; Balog, Sandor ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Lattuada, Marco ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Scientific Reports, 2019, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 900

As a highly interdisciplinary field, working with nanoparticles in a biomedical context requires a robust understanding of soft matter physics, colloidal behaviors, nano- characterization methods, biology, and bio-nano interactions. When reporting results, it can be easy to overlook simple, seemingly trivial experimental details. In this context, we set out to understand how in vitro...

Université de Fribourg

Carbon nanodots: Opportunities and limitations to study their biodistribution at the human lung epithelial tissue barrier

Durantie, Estelle ; Barosova, Hana ; Drasler, Barbara ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Urban, Dominic A. ; Vanhecke, Dimitri ; Septiadi, Dedy ; Hirschi-Ackermann, Liliane ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara

In: Biointerphases, 2018, vol. 13, no. 6, p. 06D404

Inhalation of combustion-derived ultrafine particles (≤0.1 μm) has been found to be associated with pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. However, correlation of the physicochemical properties of carbon-based particles such as surface charge and agglomeration state with adverse health effects has not yet been established, mainly due to limitations related to the detection of carbon...

Université de Fribourg

Distribution of polymer-coated gold nanoparticles in a 3D lung model and indication of apoptosis after repeated exposure

Chortarea, Savvina ; Fytianos, Kleanthis ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara

In: Nanomedicine, 2018, vol. 13, no. 10, p. 1169–1185

Aim: The distribution and impact of aerosol-delivered gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with a mixture of aminated-polyvinyl alcohol and amino-PEG ([polyvinyl alcohol/PEG]-NH2) upon repeated administration onto a 3D lung model were explored. Materials & methods: AuNPs were aerosolized and uptake and epithelial translocation was assessed by inductively coupled plasma optical-emission ...

Université de Fribourg

Aerosol delivery of functionalized gold nanoparticles target and activate dendritic cells in a 3D lung cellular model

Fytianos, Kleanthis ; Chortarea, Savvina ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Blank, Fabian ; Garnier, Christophe von ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Rothen-Rutishauser, and Barbara

In: ACS Nano, 2017, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 375–383

Nanocarrier design combined with pulmonary drug delivery holds great promise for the treatment of respiratory tract disorders. In particular, targeting of dendritic cells that are key immune cells to enhance or suppress an immune response in the lung is a promising approach for the treatment of allergic diseases. Fluorescently encoded poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-coated gold nanoparticles,...

Université de Fribourg

Decoupling the shape parameter to assess gold nanorod uptake by mammalian cells

Kinnear, Calum ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Clift, M. J. D. ; Goris, B. ; Bals, S. ; Rothen-Rutishauser, Barbara ; Petri-Fink, Alke

In: Nanoscale, 2016, vol. 8, no. 36, p. 16416–16426

The impact of nanoparticles (NPs) upon biological systems can be fundamentally associated with their physicochemical parameters. A further often-stated tenet is the importance of NP shape on rates of endocytosis. However, given the convoluted parameters concerning the NP–cell interaction, it is experimentally challenging to attribute any findings to shape alone. Herein we demonstrate that...

Université de Fribourg

A new angle on dynamic depolarized light scattering: number-averaged size distribution of nanoparticles in focus

Geers, Christoph ; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, Laura ; Urban, Dominic Andreas ; Kinnear, Calum ; Petri-Fink, Alke ; Balog, Sandor

In: Nanoscale, 2016, vol. 8, no. 34, p. 15813–15821

Size polydispersity is a common phenomenon that strongly influences the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles (NPs). We present an analytical approach that is universally applicable to characterizing optically anisotropic round NPs and determines directly the number-averaged size distribution and polydispersity via depolarized dynamic light scattering (DDLS). To demonstrate, we use...