Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States. Radiation and chemotherapy are conventional treatments, but they result in serious side effects and the probability of tumor recurrence remains high. Therefore, there is an increasing need to enhance the efficacy of conventional treatments. Magnetic nanoparticles have been previously studied for a variety of applications such as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents, anemia treatment, magnetic cell sorting and magnetically mediated hyperthermia (MMH). In this work, dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles were developed and functionalized with peptides to target the nanoparticles to either the extracellular matrix (ECM) of tumor tissue or to localize the nanoparticles in subcellular regions after cell uptake. The magnetic nanoparticles were utilized for a variety of applications. First, heating properties of the nanoparticles were utilized to administer hyperthermia treatments combined with chemotherapy. The nanoparticles were functionalized with peptides to target fibrinogen in the ECM and extensively characterized for their physicochemical properties, and MMH combined with chemotherapy was able to enhance the toxicity of chemotherapy. The second application of the nanoparticles was magnetically mediated energy delivery. This treatment does not result in a bulk temperature rise upon actuation of the nanoparticles by an alternating magnetic field (AMF) but rather results in intracellular damage via friction from Brownian rotation or nanoscale heating effects from Neél relaxations. The nanoparticles were functionalized with a cell penetrating peptide to facilitate cell uptake and lysosomal escape. The intracellular effects of the internalized nanoparticles alone and with activation by an AMF were evaluated. Iron concentrations in vivo are highly regulated as excess iron can catalyze the formation of the hydroxyl radical through Fenton chemistry. Although often a concern of using iron oxide nanoparticles for therapeutic applications, these inherent toxicities were harnessed and utilized to enhance radiation therapy. Therefore, the third application of magnetic nanoparticles was their ability to catalyze reactive oxygen species formation and increase efficacy of radiation. Overall, iron oxide nanoparticles have a variety of cancer therapy applications and are a promising class of materials for increasing efficacy and reducing the side effects of conventional cancer treatments.

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have been widely studied for a variety of applications, from biomedical applications (e.g., cell separation, drug delivery, contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging and magnetically mediated energy delivery for cancer treatment) to environmental remediations (e.g., heavy metal removal and organic pollutants degradation). It has been demonstrated that IONPs can induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via Fenton/Haber-Weiss reactions which has been shown to be one of the key underlying mechanisms of nanoparticles toxicity. This inherent toxicity of nanoparticles has been shown to enhance the efficacy of traditional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation. In addition, the generation of ROS induced by IONPs has been also studied as advanced oxidation processes (AOP) for wastewater treatment. Recent research has also shown that exposure to an alternating magnetic field can significantly enhance the generation of ROS induced by IONPs. Moreover, the coatings of IONPs play an important role on the surface reactivity of nanoparticles since it can prevent the generation of ROS via Fenton chemistries at the surface of the nanoparticles. In this work, co-precipitated IONPs were functionalized with small molecules including citric acid, sodium phosphate, amino silane and dopamine. The impact of coating on surface reactivity of the as-synthesized particles was studied using methylene blue dye degradation assay under AMF exposure. With the coatings of these small molecules, the IONPs induced ROS generation was significantly decreased because of the dense surface coverage. To study the effect of polymeric coatings, a degradable poly (beta amino ester) (PBAE) polymer coating was synthesized with dopamine as an anchor to bind to nanoparticles. The surface reactivity of the particles was expected to be recovered once the polymer coating was degraded. Furthermore, the impact of non-degradable PEG-based polymer coating on surface reactivity via ROS generation was also investigated using methylene blue decolorization assay with the presence of AMF. The retention of surface reactivity of PEG-based polymer coated IONPs shows promise for cancer treatment. The application of IONPs as heterogeneous catalyst for organic contaminant degradation was investigated. Bisphenol A (BPA) was used as a model compound, and Fenton reactions were induced by IONPs with the presence of hydrogen peroxide and hydroxylamine as well as alternating magnetic field exposure. The kinetics of BPA degradation under water bath and AMF exposure at 37oC was also studied, and the results showed potential applications of IONPs for organic pollutants remediation.