Multi-stimuli-sensitive superparamagnetic κ-carrageenan based nanoparticles for controlled 5-fluorouracil delivery

Herein, a novel multi-stimuli-sensitive nanoparticles with triple magnetic field, temperature, and pH-sensitive features was designed and developed as a drug nanocarrier for delivery of 5-fluorouracil (FL). For this purpose, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMA) was firstly grafted onto kappa-carrageenan (kappa-CG), and then kappa-CG-gPDMA copolymer was coated onto Fe3O4 nanoparticles via microwave-supported coprecipitation method. The prepared multi-functional magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by UV, FTIR, XRD, TEM, Zeta-sizer, and VSM analyses to confirm the formation of superparamagnetic Fe3O4@kappa-CG-g-PDMA structure. The in vitro FL release of the nanoparticles was investigated at 48 and 37 degrees C in different pH conditions and exhibited good pH- and temperature-sensitive behavior. Furthermore, the effects of graft yield and magnetic field on FL release were explored. When the magnetic field was applied at 100 kHz, the release of FL increased rapidly, demonstrating that nanoparticles had magnetic field-sensitive features. According to the results, the designed Fe3O4@kappa-CG-g-PDMA@FL nanoparticles can be considered as a "smart" drug delivery system for cancer therapy due to its high entrapment efficiency, slow and multi-stimuli-triggered FL release performance, and satisfactory magnetic properties.