Combining Carbon Nanotubes and Chitosan for the Vectorization of Methotrexate to Lung Cancer Cells.
Giuseppe CirilloOrazio VittorioDavid KunhardtEmanuele ValliFlorida VoliAnnafranca FarfallaManuela CurcioUmile Gianfranco SpizzirriSilke HampelPublished in: Materials (Basel, Switzerland) (2019)
A hybrid system composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes coated with chitosan was proposed as a pH-responsive carrier for the vectorization of methotrexate to lung cancer. The effective coating of the carbon nanostructure by chitosan, quantified (20% by weight) by thermogravimetric analysis, was assessed by combined scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (N1s signal), respectively. Furthermore, Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the interaction between polysaccharide and carbon counterparts. Methotrexate was physically loaded onto the nanohybrid and the release profiles showed a pH-responsive behavior with higher and faster release in acidic (pH 5.0) vs. neutral (pH 7.4) environments. Empty nanoparticles were found to be highly biocompatible in either healthy (MRC-5) or cancerous (H1299) cells, with the nanocarrier being effective in reducing the drug toxicity on MRC-5 while enhancing the anticancer activity on H1299.
Keyphrases
- electron microscopy
- drug delivery
- walled carbon nanotubes
- raman spectroscopy
- carbon nanotubes
- high dose
- drug release
- wound healing
- cancer therapy
- high resolution
- induced apoptosis
- hyaluronic acid
- ionic liquid
- cell cycle arrest
- body mass index
- weight loss
- emergency department
- oxidative stress
- low dose
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- single molecule
- computed tomography
- mass spectrometry
- drug induced
- magnetic resonance imaging
- reduced graphene oxide
- body weight
- gold nanoparticles
- contrast enhanced