Nowadays, the use of nanostructures in various medical and biological fields such as drug delivery in cancer treatment is increasing. Among the nanostructures, graphene oxide (GO) is an excellent candidate for drug delivery application because of its unique properties. For more stability, GO can bind with various polymers by its carboxyl, hydroxyl and epoxy functional groups. In this study, firstly GO synthesized by the improved Hummers chemical method and then polyethylene glycol polymer was conjugated to it by using EDC/NHS catalyst. Finally, curcumin (Cur) as anti-cancer drug has been loaded onto the PEGylated graphene oxide (GO-PEG). Next, curcumin loaded onto PEGylated graphene oxide (GO-PEG-Cur) were evaluated by using ultraviolet, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimeter, atomic microscopic force and dynamic light scattering. The amount of loaded drug was calculated about 4.5% with the help of the standard curcumin curve and UV/Vis spectrometer. Also, the result of release shows that maximum drug release rate for this nanocarrier in pH 5.5 and 7.4 was measured 50% and 60%, respectively, after 96 hours. The results showed that the zeta-potential analysis of GO-PEG-Cur was about -13.9 mV that expresses a negative surface charge for produced nanocarrier.

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Combination therapy such as radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy has attracted excessive interest in the new cancer research area. Therefore, developing nanobiomaterials for combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy is required for more powerful and successful cures. Because of the amazing X-ray sensitization proficiency of Bi based nanoparticles, in this work, we synthesized and used Bi2S3 as an enhancer of X-ray radiation therapy, and furthermore, Bi2S3 served as carrier of curcumin (CUR), a chemotherapy drug, for the goal of combination therapy. Additionally, we selected and conjugated folic acid (FA) as a targeting molecule for the direction of the designed system to the tumor site. After characterization of drug loaded FA conjugated Bi2S3@BSA nanoparticles (Bi2S3@BSA-FA-CUR) and in vitro and in vivo safety assessment, we applied it for enhanced chemotherapy and X-ray radiation therapy in cancer cells and a tumor bearing mice model. Moreover, the CT contrast ability of synthesized nanoparticles was examined. Here, we (1) for the first time developed the novel and targeted CUR loaded Bi2S3@BSA (Bi2S3@BSA-FA-CUR) to promote chemoradiation therapy in 4T1 cells and breast tumor in mice; (2) found the synthesized nanoparticles to have good stability; (3) injected a single dose of the designed radiosensitizer for cancer therapy; and (4) used a conventional X-ray dose, 2Gy, for X-ray radiation therapy. The result of in vivo X-ray radiotherapy shows that the mice tumors vanished near 3 weeks after radiation. Interestingly, these results show that Bi2S3@BSA-FA-CUR with the aid of X-ray can clearly promote the efficacy of chemoradiation therapy.

In drug delivery science, brain delivery is one of the most important challenges because of the low efficiency of the available treatments. Nowadays, shuttle peptides have attracted more attention because of lower price, reduced immunity, and increased chemical capability. Glutathione (GSH) is one of the blood−brain barrier (BBB) shuttle peptides that has reached the most progressive steps in the path toward clinical application. This project discovered the possibility of GSH-conjugated IONPs as an MRI-monitored paclitaxel (PTX) delivery vehicle across the BBB using BALB/c mouse model. Synthesized shuttle peptide-conjugated nanoparticles were tracked over a certain time by MRI. A one-pot method was used for preparation of IONPs@Asp to form functionalized nanoparticles with two functional groups for linkage of PTX, PEG, and then GSH on the surface of nanoparticles. Afterward, they were analyzed by XRD, TGA, FTIR, TEM, VSM, and DLS techniques. In addition, histological study were performed on the key organs. Here, we exhibit that (1) IONPs@Asp are stable and nontoxic to different cells; (2) conjugation of GSH to nanoparticles promotes their internalization to brain in vivo; (3) final formulation