Anticancer activity of Doxorubicin conjugated to polymer/carbon based-nanohybrid against MCF-7 breast and HT-29 colon cancer cells

The Cancer is one of the world’s most devastating diseases. Doxorubicin (DOX) is an effective chemotherapeutic drug; however, its toxicity is a significant limitation in therapy. Due to the severe side effects of chemotherapy drugs, scientists have tried to load these drugs in nanocomposites. This paper describes a facile and low cost approach for preparation polymeric biodegradable nanohybrid based on doxorubicin loaded onto chitosan/porous reduced graphene oxide (DOX/CS-prGO). Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and field emission scanning electron microscope images (FE-SEM) revealed DOX onto CS-prGO nanocomposite. In addition, the study reported here evaluated the cytotoxicity effects of DOX/CS-prGO on MCF-7 breast cancer and HT-29 colon cancer cell lines. Cytotoxicity tests showed significantly higher viability loss and toxicity of DOX/CS-prGO in comparison with CS-prGO against cancer cells especially for HT-29 colon cells (with cell viability of ~36%, ~29% and ~9% for 24, 48 and 72 h exposure, respectively). The viability loss of DOX/CS-prGO is comparable to that reported by free DOX. Thus, the development of nanohybrid based on polymer/carbon conjugated to DOX will remarkably enhance anticancer activity because of their unique physicochemical properties, high surface area and stronger inhibitory effect. These nanocomposites are an ideal candidate to deliver anticancer agents into cells.