Functionalized graphene oxides for drug loading, release and delivery of poorly water soluble anticancer drug: A comparative study

In this work, the modification of graphene oxides (GOs) have been done with hydrophilic and biodegradable polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and other excipient beta - cyclodextrin (beta-CD) through covalent functionalization for efficient loading and compatible release of sparingly water soluble aromatic anticancer drug SN-38 (7-ethyl-10-hydroxy camptothecin). The drug was loaded onto both GO-PVP and GO-beta-CD through the pi-pi interactions.The release of drug from both the nanocarriers were analyzed in different pH medium of pH 7 (water, neutral medium), pH 5 (acidic buffer) and pH 12 (basic buffer). The loading capacity and the cell killing activity of SN-38 loaded on functionalized GO were investigated comprehensively in human breast cancer cells MCF-7.Our findings shown that the cytotoxicity of SN-38 loaded to the polymer modified GO was comparatively higher than free SN-38. In particular, SN-38 loaded GO-PVP nanocarrier has more cytotoxic effect than GO-beta-CD nanocarrier against MCF-7 cells, indicating that SN-38 loaded GO-PVP nanocarrier can be used as promising material for drug delivery and biological applications.