Abstract
The combination of magnetic nanoparticles with a porous silica is a composite that has attracted significant attention for potential multifunctional theranostic applications. In this study, 30 wt % CuFe2O4 was impregnated into a matrix of monodispersed spherical hydrophilic silica (HYPS) nanoparticles through a simple dry impregnation technique. The chemotherapy drug cisplatin was loaded through electrostatic equilibrium adsorption over 24 h in normal saline solution. The presence of cubic spinel CuFe2O4 on HYPS was confirmed through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy (DR UV–vis) analysis. The HYPS particles showed a surface area of 170 m2/g, pore size of 8.3 nm and pore volume of 0.35 cm3/g. The cisplatin/CuFe2O4/HYPS nanoformulation showed the accumulation of copper ferrite nanoparticles on the surface and in the pores of HYPS with a surface area of 45 m2/g, pore size of 16 nm and pore volume of 0.18 cm3/g. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping analysis showed the presence of homogeneous silica particles with nanoclusters of copper ferrite distributed on the HYPS support. Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) analysis of CuFe2O4/HYPS showed paramagnetic behavior with a saturated magnetization value of 7.65 emu/g. DRS UV–vis analysis revealed the functionalization of cisplatin in tetrahedral and octahedral coordination in the CuFe2O4/HYPS composite. Compared to other supports such as mesocellular foam and silicalite, the release of cisplatin using the dialysis membrane technique was found to be superior when CuFe2O4/HYPS was applied as the support. An in vitro experiment was conducted to determine the potential of CuFe2O4/HYPS as an anticancer agent against the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. The results show that the nanoparticle formulation can effectively target cancerous cells and could be an effective tumor imaging guide and drug delivery system.
Highlights
Due to the continuous advancements in the field of nanotechnology, the therapeutic prospects have been broadened in terms of chronic cancer, diabetic and other metabolic disorders
These results suggest that the cytotoxic effects observed on breast cancer cell line MCF7 were attributed to the cisplatin released from the cisplatin/CuFe2O4/hydrophilic silica (HYPS) nanoparticles
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping analysis showed the presence of homogeneous silica particles with nanoclusters (5–10 nm) of copper ferrite covering the HYPS
Summary
Due to the continuous advancements in the field of nanotechnology, the therapeutic prospects have been broadened in terms of chronic cancer, diabetic and other metabolic disorders. Multifunctional theranostic nanoparticles that can respond to an external magnetic field for drug release and assist in bioimaging (magnetic resonance imaging), tissue repair, and thermal ablation have been gaining considerable attention in recent years. The use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) is advantageous as they are FDA-approved for clinical use [2]. Due to the poor crystallinity of SPIONs on silica supports, a low saturation value of magnetization occurs in the silica bound nanocomposites. The magnetometer (superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)) analysis of silica/iron oxide nanocomposites showed the magnetization of 1.65 emu/g. The saturated magnetization can be increased with a high loading of SPIONs, the formation of a mixture of iron oxide species (α-Fe2O4, Fe3O4 and γ-Fe2O4) becomes inevitable
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