Non-covalent modification of graphene oxide nanocomposites with chitosan/dextran and its application in drug delivery

Abstract

The non-covalent functionalization of graphene oxide (GO) with chitosan (CS) and dextran (Dex) was successfully developed via layer-by-layer self-assembly technique for anti-cancer drug delivery application. The CS/Dex functionalized GO nanocomposites (GO-CS/Dex) exhibited a diameter of about 300 nm and a thickness of 60 nm. Anti-cancer drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) was loaded into the nanocomposites via π–π stacking and electrostatic attraction and DOX-loaded nanocomposites exhibited noticeable pH-sensitive DOX release behaviors with release acceleration in acidic environment. The functionalization with CS and Dex not only strongly improved the dispersibility of both GO and DOX loaded GO nanosheets in physiological conditions, but also decreased the non-specific protein adsorption of GO nanosheets, which was beneficial for the biomedical applications. Furthermore, it was observed that the GO-CS/Dex nanocomposites was able to be up-taken by MCF-7 cells and DOX loaded GO-CS/Dex nanocomposites had a strong cytotoxicity to the cancer cells. Overall, GO-CS/Dex could prove to be a suitable candidate for anti-cancer drug delivery.