한양대학교 Nano Bio Tech Lab.

Abstract

We have fabricated biocompatible nanofiber hydrogels with diverse sizes of ferritin clusters according to the mixing
temperature of solutions employing electrospinning. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was used as a polymeric matrix for
fabricating nanocomposites. By thermal means we controlled the interaction between the host PVA hydrogel and the
protein shell on ferritin bionanoparticles to vary the size and concentration of ferritin clusters. The clustering of ferritin
was based on the partial unfolding of a protein shell of ferritin. By studying the magnetic properties of the PVA/ferritin
nanofibers according to the mixing temperature of the PVA/ferritin solutions, we confirmed that the clustering process
of the ferritin was related to changes in the superparamagnetic properties and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
contrast of the PVA/ferritin nanofibers. PVA/ferritin nanofiber hydrogels with diverse spatial distributions of ferritin
nanoparticles are applicable as MRI-based noninvasive detectable cell culture scaffolds and as artificial muscles
because of their improved superparamagnetic properties.