Encapsulation of Drug‐Loaded Graphene Oxide‐Based Nanocarrier into Electrospun Pullulan Nanofibers for Potential Local Chemotherapy of Breast Cancer

Abstract

With the high rate of mortality associated with breast cancer among women, breast cancer treatment has attracted great deal of attention globally. To reduce the exposure of body organs to high cytotoxicity of the common chemotherapeutic drugs, local co‐delivery of selected chemotherapeutics has emerged as a solution. In this work, an electrospun composite including a co‐drug‐loaded graphene oxide‐based nanocarrier is fabricated for local anticancer applications. To increase dispersion and cellular uptake of graphene oxide (GO), first, the hydroxyl groups at the edges of GO are grafted by poly (epichlorohydrin) (PCH) to form GO‐PCH. Then, the hydroxyl end groups of PCH are grafted (g) with hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) leading to formation of oxygen‐rich nanocarrier (GO‐PCH‐g‐HPG). Paclitaxel (PTX) and curcumin (Cur) are loaded into the GO‐PCH‐g‐HPG nanocarrier, and are encapsulated into pullulan nanofibers using electrospinning. SEM, FTIR, and UV–Vis characterizations confirmed the presence and distribution of the nanocarrier inside the nanofibers. The drugs showed a sustained release (93 h) from the nanocarrier‐loaded nanofibers in the neutral pH (7.4). According to MTT assay and optical microscopy, a synergistic cytotoxicity effect of PTX and Cur is observed. The nanocarrier‐encapsulated nanofiber system represents a novel tunable drug delivery system for local chemotherapeutic applications.

Advances in Biologically Applicable Graphene-Based 2D Nanomaterials

“…Paclitaxel (PTX) and CUR drugs were loaded into a nanocarrier consisting of GO-grafted poly(epichlorohydrin) and OH groups that were grafted with hyperbranched polyglycerol and encapsulated into pullulan nanofibers using electrospinning, which exhibited sustained release in a medium with pH 7.4, and this drug delivery system has the potential to be used for local chemotherapeutic applications [ 138 ]. DOX-loaded Pluronic ® F127/GO nanohybride induced a higher apoptosis rate of U251 cells than that of free DOX (12.27 ± 0.06% vs. 8.20 ± 0.06%), affected the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and induced the intrinsic pathway, of apoptosis for the activation of caspase-3 in U251 cells [ 139 ].…”

Fast-Disintegrating Nanofibrous Web of Pullulan/Griseofulvin–Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes

“…Differently from other polysaccharide types, PULL can easily dissolve in water thanks to the low degree of hydrogen bonding in the structure . It has been previously reported that electrospun nanofibrous webs of PULL can be used for drug transportation, filtration, medical scaffolds, and food packaging. − PULL can also be electrospun into NFs along with the combination of a variety of drug molecules to create FDDSs. , …”

Synthesis of Carrier-Free Paclitaxel–Curcumin Nanoparticles: The Role of Curcuminoids

“…In 2009, Amiji et al reported a flaxseed-oil-containing nanoemulsion formulation to encapsulate PTX and CUR to overcome the MDR in ovarian cancer [ 12 ]. There have been many carrier-based formulations for the codelivery of PTX and CUR, including polymeric systems [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], liposomes, niosomes [ 16 ], cyclodextrins [ 17 ], and graphene oxide [ 18 ], but these all suffer from low drug loadings and could pose challenges due to the nontherapeutic carrier mass compositions and the unknown long-term toxicities of the carrier components [ 3 ].…”