63 research outputs found
Correlations of structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of undoped and doped CaCu3Ti4O12
The present work reports synthesis, as well as a detailed and careful
characterization of structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of
differently tempered undoped and doped CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) ceramics. For this
purpose, neutron and x-ray powder diffraction, SQUID measurements, and
dielectric spectroscopy have been performed. Mn-, Fe-, and Ni-doped CCTO
ceramics were investigated in great detail to document the influence of
low-level doping with 3d metals on the antiferromagnetic structure and
dielectric properties. In the light of possible magnetoelectric coupling in
these doped ceramics, the dielectric measurements were also carried out in
external magnetic fields up to 7 T, showing a minor but significant dependence
of the dielectric constant on the applied magnetic field. Undoped CCTO is
well-known for its colossal dielectric constant in a broad frequency and
temperature range. With the present extended characterization of doped as well
as undoped CCTO, we want to address the question why doping with only 1% Mn or
0.5% Fe decreases the room-temperature dielectric constant of CCTO by a factor
of ~100 with a concomitant reduction of the conductivity, whereas 0.5% Ni
doping changes the dielectric properties only slightly. In addition,
diffraction experiments and magnetic investigations were undertaken to check
for possible correlations of the magnitude of the colossal dielectric constants
with structural details or with magnetic properties like the magnetic ordering,
the Curie-Weiss temperatures, or the paramagnetic moment. It is revealed, that
while the magnetic ordering temperature and the effective moment of all
investigated CCTO ceramics are rather similar, there is a dramatic influence of
doping and tempering time on the Curie-Weiss constant.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Antibody-mediated targeting of iron oxide nanoparticles to the folate receptor alpha increases tumor cell association in vitro and in vivo
Christian Ndong,1 Seiko Toraya-Brown,2 Katsiaryna Kekalo,1 Ian Baker,1 Tillman U Gerngross,1,3,4 Steven N Fiering,2,5,6 Karl E Griswold1,3,6 1Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA; 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA; 3Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA; 4Department of Chemistry, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA; 5Department of Genetics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA; 6Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH, USA Abstract: Active molecular targeting has become an important aspect of nanoparticle development for oncology indications. Here, we describe molecular targeting of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) to the folate receptor alpha (FOLRα) using an engineered antibody fragment (Ffab). Compared to control nanoparticles targeting the non-relevant botulinum toxin, the Ffab-IONP constructs selectively accumulated on FOLRα-overexpressing cancer cells in vitro, where they exhibited the capacity to internalize into intracellular vesicles. Similarly, Ffab-IONPs homed to FOLRα-positive tumors upon intraperitoneal administration in an orthotopic murine xenograft model of ovarian cancer, whereas negative control particles showed no detectable tumor accumulation. Interestingly, Ffab-IONPs built with custom 120 nm nanoparticles exhibited lower in vitro targeting efficiency when compared to those built with commercially sourced 180 nm nanoparticles. In vivo, however, the two Ffab-IONP platforms achieved equivalent tumor homing, although the smaller 120 nm IONPs were more prone to liver sequestration. Overall, the results show that Ffab-mediated targeting of IONPs yields specific, high-level accumulation within cancer cells, and this fact suggests that Ffab-IONPs could have future utility in ovarian cancer diagnostics and therapy. Keywords: nanoparticle targeting, antibody fragment, biodistribution, ovarian cance
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