Calcium phosphate nanocapsule crowned multiwalled carbon nanotubes for pH triggered intracellular anticancer drug release

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. B, Materials for biology and medicine Materials for biology and medicine, 2015-05, Vol.3 (19), p.3931-3939
• Main Authors: Banerjee, Shashwat S, Todkar, Kiran J, Khutale, Ganesh V, Chate, Govind P, Biradar, Ankush V, Gawande, Manoj B, Zboril, Radek, Khandare, Jayant J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Calcium phosphate; Drug delivery systems; Drugs; Lysosomes; Multi wall carbon nanotubes; Nanostructure; Platforms
• ISSN: 2050-750X; 2050-7518
• DOI: 10.1039/c5tb00534e

We report calcium phosphate (CaP) nanocapsule crowned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT-GSH-G4-CaP) as a novel platform for intracellular delivery of an anticancer drug. As a proof-of-concept , CNT-GSH-G4-CaP demonstrates release of anticancer drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) within intracellular lysosomes from the interior cavity of CNT upon pH triggered CaP dissolution. Importantly, we found that the CNT with a CaP nanolid can efficiently prevent untimely drug release at physiological pH but promotes DOX release at increased acidic milieu as observed in subcellular compartments such as lysosomes (∼5.0). This "zero premature release" characteristic is of clinical significance in delivering cytotoxic drugs, by reducing systemic toxicity and thus beneficial for the effective anticancer treatment. We envision that this pH triggered CaP crowned CNT nanosystem would lead to a new generation of self-regulated platforms for intracellular delivery of a variety of anticancer drugs. A pH-responsive carbon nanotube based carrier crowned with a pore-blocking calcium phosphate nanocapsule is developed for intracellular anticancer drug delivery.