Highly Hydrophilic Luminescent Magnetic Mesoporous Carbon Nanospheres for Controlled Release of Anticancer Drug and Multimodal Imaging

• Published in: Langmuir 2016-02, Vol.32 (6), p.1611-1620
• Main Authors: Mohapatra, Sasmita, Rout, Smruti R, Das, Rahul K, Nayak, Santoshi, Ghosh, Sudip K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Carbon - chemistry; Carbon - radiation effects; Cobalt - chemistry; Cobalt - toxicity; Doxorubicin - chemistry; Doxorubicin - pharmacology; Drug Carriers - chemical synthesis; Drug Carriers - chemistry; Drug Carriers - radiation effects; Drug Carriers - toxicity; Drug Liberation; Ferric Compounds - chemical synthesis; Ferric Compounds - chemistry; Ferric Compounds - toxicity; Formaldehyde - chemistry; HeLa Cells; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Luminescence; Magnetic Phenomena; Nanospheres - chemistry; Nanospheres - radiation effects; Nanospheres - toxicity; Optical Imaging; Resorcinols - chemistry; Theranostic Nanomedicine; Ultraviolet Rays
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b03898

Judicious combination of fluorescence and magnetic properties along with ample drug loading capacity and control release property remains a key challenge in the design of nanotheranostic agents. This paper reports the synthesis of highly hydrophilic optically traceable mesoporous carbon nanospheres which can sustain payloads of the anticancer drug doxorubicin and T2 contrast agent such as cobalt ferrite nanoparticles. The luminescent magnetic hybrid system has been prepared on a mesoporous silica template using a resorcinol-formaldehyde precursor. The mesoporous matrix shows controlled release of the aromatic drug doxorubicin due to disruption of supramolecular π–π interaction at acidic pH. The particles show MR contrast behavior by affecting the proton relaxation with transverse relaxivity (r 2) 380 mM–1 S–1. The multicolored emission and upconversion luminescence property of our sample are advantageous in bioimaging. In vitro cell experiments shows that the hybrid nanoparticles are endocyted by the tumor cells through passive targeting. The pH-responsive release of doxorubicin presents chemotherapeutic inhibition of cell growth through induction of apoptosis.