Polyelectrolyte Coating of Ferumoxytol Differentially Impacts the Labeling of Inflammatory and Steady-State Dendritic Cell Subtypes

Nehar Celikkin; John E Wong; Martin Zenke; Thomas Hieronymus

doi:10.3390/biomedicines10123137

Polyelectrolyte Coating of Ferumoxytol Differentially Impacts the Labeling of Inflammatory and Steady-State Dendritic Cell Subtypes

Biomedicines. 2022 Dec 5;10(12):3137. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10123137.

Authors

Nehar Celikkin^{1

2}, John E Wong³, Martin Zenke^{1

2}, Thomas Hieronymus^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
² Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 20, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
³ Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany.
⁴ Institute for Cell and Tumor Biology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.

Abstract

Engineered magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are emerging as advanced tools for medical applications. The coating of MNPs using polyelectrolytes (PEs) is a versatile means to tailor MNP properties and is used to optimize MNP functionality. Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical regulators of adaptive immune responses. Functionally distinct DC subsets exist, either under steady-state or inflammatory conditions, which are explored for the specific treatment of various diseases, such as cancer, autoimmunity, and transplant rejection. Here, the impact of the PE coating of ferumoxytol for uptake into both inflammatory and steady-state DCs and the cellular responses to MNP labeling is addressed. Labeling efficiency by uncoated and PE-coated ferumoxytol is highly variable in different DC subsets, and PE coating significantly improves the labeling of steady-state DCs. Uncoated ferumoxytol results in increased cytotoxicity of steady-state DCs after labeling, which is abolished by the PE coating, while no increased cell death is observed in inflammatory DCs. Furthermore, uncoated and PE-coated ferumoxytol appear immunologically inert in inflammatory DCs, but they induce activation of steady-state DCs. These results show that the PE coating of MNPs can be applied to endow particles with desired properties for enhanced uptake and cell type-specific responses in distinct target DC populations.

Keywords: dendritic cells; ferumoxytol; nanoparticles; polyelectrolytes; tracking.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments grant number ERS OPSP006 to T.H. and J.E.W. T.H. received a grant from the START program of the Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University.