Due to the hopeful potential of nanoparticles in medicine, they have attracted much attention
for various applications such as targeted drug/gene delivery, separation or imaging. Interaction of NPs
with the biological environment can lead to a wide range of cellular responses. In order to have safe
NPs for biomedical applications, the current biocompatibility researches are particularly focused on the
severe toxic mechanisms which cause cells death. These mechanisms are apoptosis, autophagy and
necrosis, which can also be intricately linked with the cell-life cycle, as there are various check-points
and controls in a cell’s life cycle to ensure appropriate division processes. Mechanisms by which
toxicants induce cell death by necrosis and apoptosis have been the focus of many biomedical
disciplines because it helps us understand toxicity but also provides opportunities for drugs to impact on
dysregulation of the cell cycle in diseases such as cancer. Among various types of NPs, the
superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) are recognized as powerful biocompatible
materials for multi-task nanomedicine applications such as drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging,
cell/protein separation, hyperthermia and transfection. This chapter presents overview of the effect of
SPION on the cell life cycle.
Keywords: Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, Cell cycle, TUNEL assay, Protein
absorption, Polyethylene glycol fumarate, Polyvinyl alcohol, Propidium iodide, Phosphate buffer saline,
Fetal bovine serum, MTT assay, Derivative study.
