Magnetotactic bacteria, which synthesize biological magnetite nanoparticles (BMs), are the main microbial source of magnetic nanomaterials. Although the use of BMs has been explored in vitro and in vivo for new anticancer formulations, targeted treatments of fungal and parasitic diseases would also benefit from biogenic magnetic nanoformulations. Due to the necessity of new formulations of amphotericin B, we developed a magnetic-nanoparticle based conjugate of this drug using bacterial magnetosomes. Different amphotericin B preparations were obtained using BMs extracted from Magnetovibrio blakemorei strain MV-1T as well as glutaraldehyde and poly-l-lysine as linking reagents. The highest capture efficiencies and drug loadings were achieved using 0.1‰ poly-l-lysine as the only linking agent (52.7 ± 2.1%, and 25.3 ± 1.9 μg per 100 μg, respectively) and 0.1‰ poly-l-lysine and glutaraldehyde 12.5% (45.0 ± 5.4%, and 21.6 ± 4.9 μg per 100 μg, respectively). Transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy analyses confirmed the association of amphotericin B to the BM surface. Moreover, controlled drug release from these nanoparticles was achieved by applying an alternating magnetic field. In this condition the release of amphotericin B in PBS increased approximately four-fold as compared to the release under standard conditions with no applied magnetic fields. Hence, the functionalization of BMs with amphotericin B produces stable nanoformulations with a controllable drug release profile, thus, enabling its potential in the treatment of fungal and parasitic diseases.
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