Mission impossible for cellular internalization: When porphyrin alliance with UiO-66-NH2 MOF gives the cell lines a ride

Abstract

Is it possible to accelerate cell internalization by hybridization of nanomaterials? Herein we support the realization of using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with the assistance of rigid porphyrin structure (H2TMP) aimed at drug loading, drug release, relative cell viability, and targeted in vitro drug delivery. There are several MOFs, i.e., UiO-66-NH2 (125 ± 12.5 nm), UiO-66-NH2 @H2TMP (160 ± 14 nm), UiO-66-NH2 @H2TMP@DOX, and UiO-66-NH2 @H2TMP@DOX@RO were synthesized and characterized applying HEK-293, HT-29, MCF-7, and MCF-10A cell lines. MTT investigations proved a significantly higher relative cell viability for H2TMP-aided leaf-extract-coated nanocarriers (above 62 % relative cell viability). Furthermore, the rigid H2TMP structure improved drug loading capacity by 24 % through an enhanced hydrogen bond, van der Waals, and π-π interactions. The in vitro targeted drug delivery experiments were conducted on HT-29 and MCF-7 cell lines. First, nanocarriers were treated with HT-29 cells, where UiO-66-NH2 @H2TMP@DOX@RO appeared as the best nanocarrier. Then, the selected nanocarrier was extracted from the HT-29 cell line and treated with the MCF-7 cell line. For the first time, the DOX remained inside the UiO-66-NH2 @H2TMP@DOX@RO after successful delivery to the HT-29 cell lines was observed on the MCF-7 cell line, and the second targeted drug delivery was performed. The results of this survey can enlighten the future ahead of cell internalization in MOF-based hybrid nanostructures.