HeLa cells separation using MICA antibody conjugated to magnetite nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic nanoparticles (MNP) have attracted much interest for medical applications, like magnetic cell separation, magnetic resonance imaging, drug delivery and hyperthermia In this work, 10 nm MNP were functionalized with human α-MICA antibody, via biotin-streptavidin conjugation, due to the importance of MICA receptor in antitumor immunity. The potentiality of the nanoparticles has been tested in vitro with two different cell lines: HeLa (with MICA ligands on surface) and HL-60 (without MICA ligands). MNP tagged HeLa cells were effectively separated by application of a magnetic field gradient. TEM micrographs were performed after magnetic separation, proving intracellular presence of the functionalized MNP. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)