AS1411 aptamer-functionalized graphene oxide-based nano-carrier for active-target and pH-sensitive delivery of curcumin

A pH-sensitive nano-graphene oxide (nGO)-based delivery system is designed for Cur delivery to MCF cancerous cells. Cur is loaded on the synthesized nGO (Cur-nGO) and decorated by bovine serum albumin (BSA) to improve its biostability, protect the Cur from undesired loss and provide the carboxylic functional groups for aptamer conjunction (Cur-nGO-BSA). Finally, the Cur-nGO-BSA was functionalized with AS1411 aptamer and characterized by various methods. The drug loading and loading efficiency of the designed system are 8.9% and 78.9%, respectively. The loaded drug is preferably released in acidic media at in-vitro studies. The MTT test on MCF7 as positive and SKBR3 as negative nucleolin cancer cells revealed that the Cur-nGO-BSA can inhibit their growth while AS1411 aptamer-functionalized nano-carrier showed an improved efficiency toward MCF7 cells due to the significant affinity of the aptamer toward the highly expressed nucleolin on the MCF7 plasma membrane.