Magnetic/pH dual‐responsive nanocomposites loading doxorubicin hydrochloride for cancer therapy

Abstract

Development of stimuli-responsive nanocomposites for the delivery anticancer drug has attracted considerable attention. A magnetic/pH dual-responsive nanocomposite was synthesised by amide condensation reaction and developed for cancer therapy. The PEGylated citric-coated Fe 3 O 4 (PCI)-graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites was constructed by a three-step process. Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles were firstly coated with citric acid, and then covalently linked to aminated polyethylene glycol (NH 2 -PEG-NH 2 ); lastly, the PCI was covalently conjugated to graphite oxide to obtain PCI-GO nanocomposites. The PCI-GO nanocomposites were characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform-infrared, ultraviolet-visible, and thermogravimetry. The magnetic of nanocomposites was confirmed by a vibrating sample magnetometer. Due to the hydrogen bond, π - π stacking and electrostatic interaction between the doxorubicin (DOX) hydrochloride and PCI-GO nanocomposites, the PCI-GO nanocomposites could load DOX effectively and with a high drug loading content (about 87.6%). The DOX-loaded PCI-GO (DOX/PCI-GO) nanocomposites exhibited pH-responsive release behaviour. The DOX/PCI-GO nanocomposites could effectively inhibit tumour growth in vitro, which was comparable to the antitumour effect of free DOX. The result indicates that the PCI-GO nanocomposites exhibit great potential for a magnetic targeted drug delivery system in multimodal and synergistic cancer therapy.