Synthesis of Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles, Their Conjugation with the Siderophore Feroxamine and its Evaluation for Bacteria Detection

In the present work, the synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles, its coating with SiO2, followed by its amine functionalization with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and its conjugation with deferoxamine, a siderophore recognized by Yersinia enterocolitica, using a succinyl moiety as a linker are described. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) of magnetite (Fe3O4) were prepared by solvothermal method and coated with SiO2 (MNP@SiO2) using the Stöber process followed by functionalization with APTES (MNP@SiO2@NH2). Then, feroxamine was conjugated with the MNP@SiO2@NH2 by carbodiimide coupling to give MNP@SiO2@NH2@Fa. The morphology and properties of the conjugate and intermediates were examined by eight different methods including powder X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) mapping. This exhaustive characterization confirmed the formation of the conjugate. Finally, in order to evaluate the capacity and specificity of the nanoparticles, they were tested in a capture bacteria assay using Yersinia enterocolitica.