Preparation of a pH‐responsive chitosan‐montmorillonite‐nitrogen‐doped carbon quantum dots nanocarrier for attenuating doxorubicin limitations in cancer therapy

• Published in: Engineering in life sciences Vol. 22; no. 10; pp. 634 - 649
• Main Authors: Rahmani, Erfan, Pourmadadi, Mehrab, Ghorbanian, Sohrab Ali, Yazdian, Fatemeh, Rashedi, Hamid, Navaee, Mona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2022; Wiley-VCH
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Biocompatibility; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Carbon; carbon quantum dots; Chemotherapy; Chitosan; Controlled release; Cytotoxicity; Double emulsions; Doxorubicin; drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Drug dosages; Entrapment; Flow cytometry; Fourier transforms; Hydrogels; Kinases; Montmorillonite; Nanocomposites; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen; Permeability; pH effects; pH‐responsive nanocarrier; Polyethylene glycol; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Quantum dots; Side effects; Sustained release; Toxicity; chitosan; montmorillonite; pH‐responsive nanocarrier; doxorubicin; drug delivery; carbon quantum dots
• ISSN: 1618-0240; 1618-2863
• DOI: 10.1002/elsc.202200016

Despite its widespread usage as a chemotherapy drug in cancer treatment, doxorubicin (DOX) has limitations such as short in vivo circulation time, low solubility, and poor permeability. In this regard, a pH‐responsive chitosan (CS)‐ montmorillonite (MMT)‐ nitrogen‐doped carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) nanocomposite was first developed, loaded with DOX, and then incorporated into a double emulsion to further develop the sustained release. The incorporated NCQDs into the CS‐MMT hydrogel exhibited enhanced loading and entrapment efficiencies. The presence of NCQDs nanoparticles in the CS‐MMT hydrogel also resulted in an extended pH‐responsive release of DOX over a period of 96 h compared to that of CS‐MMT‐DOX nanocarriers at pH 5.4. Based on the Korsmeyer‐Peppas model, there was a controlled DOX release at pH 5.4, while no diffusion was observed at pH 7.4, indicating fewer side effects. MTT assay showed that the cytotoxicity of DOX‐loaded CS‐MMT‐NCQDs hydrogel nanocomposite was significantly higher than those of free DOX (p < 0.001) and CS‐MMT‐NCQDs (p < 0.001) on MCF‐7 cells. Flow cytometry results demonstrated that a higher apoptosis induction achieved after incorporating NCQDs nanoparticles into CS‐MMT‐DOX nanocarrier. These findings suggest that the DOX‐loaded nanocomposite is a promising candidate for the targeted treatment of cancer cells.