Title : Novel 2D carbon based nanoplatforms for targeted drug delivery
Abstract:
The biomedical applications of graphene-based materials, including drug delivery, have grown rapidly in the past few years. Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have been extensively explored as some of the most promising biomaterials for biomedical applications due to their unique properties: two-dimensional planar structure, large surface area, chemical and mechanical stability, superb conductivity and good biocompatibility. These properties result in promising applications for the design of advanced drug delivery systems and delivery of a broad range of therapeutics. In this study, we aimed to create and characterize a GO-based 2D nanoplatform that was functionalized with highly branched 8-arm polyethylene-glycol (PEG). The PEG functionalization helped to decrease the toxicity of the GO flakes and increase their loading capacity with cisplatinum (Pt) drug. We evaluated the anticancer effects of this GO-based 2D nanoplatform in osteosarcoma cell lines.
In this study, 85% of the GO flakes reached an average lateral size of 130 nm before PEGylation. GO@PEG-Pt showed high stability at two different temperatures (pH 7.4) and the Pt loading efficiency of GO@PEG nanoplatform reached LE=64%, for non-PEGylated GO LE=10%. Unloaded GO@PEG showed no significant toxicity and the bioactivity of GO@PEG-Pt showed an obvious dose-dependent decrease in cellular metabolic activity in osteosarcoma cell lines U2, SAOS and MG63 tested in both GO@PEG-Pt compared to cells containing only Pt. At a concentration of 30 µM, the GO@PEG nanoplatforms carrying Pt showed a significant decrease in cell viability compared to the group without Pt, suggesting that the use of GO@PEG nanoplatforms could be a promising approach for treating osteosarcoma with Pt. These findings confirm that the GO@PEG-based nanoplatform is a promising nano-delivery system, consistent with other studies that demonstrate the lack of toxicity associated with GO@PEG, even at higher concentrations in vivo. Therefore, GO@PEG nanoplatforms have the potential to be administered to patients without adverse effects.
