Ultrashort Nanotube Blocked Large-Inner-Diameter Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Based Drug Delivery System for Tumor Targeted Therapy

摘要

The drug loading efficiency, drug release profile, and cellular uptake are critical aspects of any drug delivery system to accomplish delivery objectives. To improve the efficacy of carbon nanotubes based drug delivery system, the highly purified Folic acid (FA)-conjugated large-innerdiameter multi-walled carbon nanotubes (LID-MWCNTs) were employed to establish a novel cisplatin (CDDP)-loaded drug delivery system. Ultra-purified nanotubes with open ends and sidewall defects were fabricated by a multi-step oxidation procedure. Then, FA was attached to external surface of these nanotubes and CDDP was incorporated inside the FA-LID-MWCNT carriers by capillarity and the drug entries were blocked by the ultrashort oxidized LID-MWCNT (UST) nanoparticles. CDDP loading efficiency of the resulted drug delivery system was as high as 70.97%. Meanwhile, the drug delivery system demonstrated a sustained CDDP release profile and an improved cellular uptake. Cytotoxicity test on CAL-27 and MCF-7 cells revealed enhanced inhibition of tumor cell proliferation (IC50 were 4.21 mu M and 3.76 mu M respectively). The FA-conjugated UST-blocked LID-MWCNT based drug delivery system was proved to be a promising strategy to improve the pharmacological activity of CDDP in chemotherapy.