We report a method of fabrication of fluorescent magnetosomes, designated as MCR400, in which 400 μM of rhodamine B are introduced in the growth medium of AMB-1 magnetotactic bacteria and fluorescent magnetosomes are then extracted from these bacteria. These fluorescent magnetosomes behave differently from most fluorescent nanoprobes, which often lead to fluorescence losses over time due to photobleaching. Indeed, when MCR400 are heated to 30-90 °C, brought to an acidic pH, or exposed to radiations, we observed that their fluorescence intensity increased. We attributed this behavior to the dissociation of rhodamine B from the magnetosomes. Interestingly, enhanced fluorescence was also observed in vitro when MCR400 were mixed with either primary macrophages or tumor cells (TC1-GFP or RG2-Cells) or in vivo when MCR400 were introduced in rat glioblastoma. We showed that MCR400 internalize in tumor and immune cells (macrophages) leading to enhanced fluorescence, suggesting that fluorescent magnetosomes could be used during cancer treatments such as magnetic hyperthermia to image cells of interest such as immune or tumor cells.
Keywords: alternating magnetic field; fluorescence; fluorescent probe; magnetic hyperthermia; magnetosomes; magnetotactic bacteria; nanomedicine; thermometer.