Doxorubicin imprinted magnetic polymethacrylamide as a pH-sensitive anticancer nanocarrier

Abstract

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are efficient and rapidly growing nano-platforms in different biomedical applications. In this study, the surface imprinting approach was used to prepare nanoparticles of magnetic doxorubicin (DOX) imprinted polymer by precipitation polymerization protocol in water. The synthesized magnetic MIPs (MMIP) was used as the doxorubicin (DOX) delivery nanocarrier with high drug loading and pH responsivity. Characterization of the prepared materials was performed by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), and zeta potential (ZP). The in vitro studies on DOX loading and release indicate that the highest value of DOX was released through a sustained profile in tumor tissue conditions (pH 5, 41 °C) than normal physiological environmental (pH 7.4, 37 °C). Remarkably, the cytotoxicity study demonstrated that the DOX-loaded MMIP has notable cytotoxicity against A549 cells. According to the obtained results, the prepared MMIP could potentially be proposed as a promising candidate for anticancer drug delivery systems.