IRON OXIDE NANOPARTICLES IN DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS.

The geometry and electronic structure of iron oxide Fe3O4 with de-glucose and pentapeptide CREKA complex compound have been studied by te semiempirical molecular mechanics MM+ and quantum chemistry PM3 methods. The geometrical and energy parameters, characterizing the low energy states of the complex, were calculated using the HyperChem 8.03 program. A synthetic macromolecule, aminodextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles conjugated with CREKA peptide, was te synthesized as a nanocarrier, which was detectable using magnetic resonance imaging. The synthesis process began with a two-step reaction that attached a high density of amino groups to a dextran backbone. The aminodextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles thus synthesized were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Also, the morphology of this synthetic macromolecule was studied by scanning electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]