Electrospun nanofibers incorporating self-decomposable silica nanoparticles as carriers for controlled delivery of anticancer drug

Abstract

Drug delivery via electrospun nanofibers represents a new approach to treat tissue damage resulting from cancer or cancer treatment. In this study, we propose a decomposable nanoparticle-incorporated electrospun mat as carrier for anticancer drugs. The anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) was initially loaded into SiO₂ nanoparticles (DOX@SiO₂), and the prepared DOX-loaded nanoparticles were then introduced into a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/chitosan (PLGA/CS) mixed solution to fabricate drug-loaded composite nanofibers (PLGA/CS/DOX@SiO₂) via electrospinning. The prepared nanoparticles and drug-loaded nanofibers were characterized by various methods, and the results indicated that the DOX@SiO₂ nanoparticles were dispersively embedded inside PLGA/CS nanofibers. The PLGA/CS/DOX@SiO₂ composite nanofibers showed a sustained and controlled drug release profile. Moreover, the DOX released from the composite nanofibers achieved significant antitumor activity, thereby effectively inhibiting the growth of HeLa cells. Thus, the prepared composite nanofibrous mats containing self-decomposable nanocarriers would be potential candidates for cancer treatment.