Verteporfin Loaded Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets for Combined Photo‐Chemotherapy

Abstract

AbstractVerteporphin loaded g‐C3N4 represents a multifunctional therapeutic platform for synchronous cancer imaging and treatment through the synergistic effect of phototherapy and chemotherapy. A biocompatible nanocarrier using g‐C3N4 nanosheets for high loading and anticancer activity of photosensitizer drug verteporfin (VP) is designed. The drug encapsulation efficiency (%) of optimized mannose functionalized g‐C3N4 formulation was observed to be 68.5 % for 5 mg of nanocarrier. It was found that 63.3 % and 81 % of the total bound drug was released from the nanocarrier at pH 5.4 and pH 1.2 respectively after 48 h. Under neutral conditions (pH 7.4), 45.2 % of the drug was released from the nanocarrier in the first 48 h. The % cytotoxicity of the free drug, the drug loaded nanocarrier against human breast cancer cell line (MCF‐7) was found to be 91.47 % and 91.23 % respectively at the dose of 40 μg/mL and 5 mg/mL after 48 h. IC50 values also manifest the significantly lower cytotoxicity of drug loaded nanocarriers (IC50=0.195 mg/mL) as compared to free‐drug (IC50=0.156 μg/mL). For mannosylated graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4), verteporfin and man‐g‐C3N4@VP the values of mean ± std. deviation were found to be 4.14±2.46; 55.39±2.76; 63.27±1.74 respectively. Terephthalic acid assay confirmed formation of hydroxyl radicals in the solution treated with nanocarrier. This study suggests that g‐C3N4 is a promising use in drug carrier, cancer diagnosis and therapy. The combined effects of the high efficacy of ROS generation under UV light irradiation, low toxicity, and bio‐compatibility highlight the potential of verteporphin loaded g‐C3N4 for PDT.