By Prof. Etienne Duguet

CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux, ICMCB, 87 avenue du Dr Albert Schweitzer, F-33608 Pessac (France)

This course will be the opportunity of presenting and discussing potential advantages of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for diagnosis and therapy through (i) an overview of their potentialities, not only for MRI contrast enhancement, such as the commercial «Ultrasmall SuperParamagnetic Iron Oxide» (USPIO), but also for cancer therapy (magnetic fluid hyperthermia) and remote-triggered drug release, (ii) an understanding of the problems involved as soon as nanoparticles are injected in the blood-compartment, such as the reaction of the mononuclear phagocyte system, the opsonization process and the factors affecting the nanoparticle biodistribution and (iii) the possibilities for resolving them: surface modification for long-circulating or macrophage-evading nanoparticles, ligand grafting for active targeting of specific organs or tumor cells…

Tackled from the viewpoint of chemistry, this course doesn’t require specific knowledge in physics, biology and medicine.