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Ultraparamagnetic Cells Formed through Intracellular Oxidation and Chelation of Paramagnetic Iron
Author(s) -
Ramesh Pradeep,
Hwang SonJong,
Davis Hunter C.,
LeeGosselin Audrey,
Bharadwaj Vivek,
English Max A.,
Sheng Jenny,
Iyer Vasant,
Shapiro Mikhail G.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201805042
Subject(s) - paramagnetism , superparamagnetism , in vivo , chemistry , chelation , nanotechnology , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , biomolecule , biophysics , materials science , magnetic field , biology , magnetization , inorganic chemistry , physics , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , radiology , quantum mechanics
Making cells magnetic is a long‐standing goal of chemical biology, aiming to enable the separation of cells from complex biological samples and their visualization in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Previous efforts towards this goal, focused on engineering cells to biomineralize superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic iron oxides, have been largely unsuccessful due to the stringent required chemical conditions. Here, we introduce an alternative approach to making cells magnetic, focused on biochemically maximizing cellular paramagnetism. We show that a novel genetic construct combining the functions of ferroxidation and iron chelation enables engineered bacterial cells to accumulate iron in “ultraparamagnetic” macromolecular complexes, allowing these cells to be trapped with magnetic fields and imaged with MRI in vitro and in vivo. We characterize the properties of these cells and complexes using magnetometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, biochemical assays, and computational modeling to elucidate the unique mechanisms and capabilities of this paramagnetic concept.