Poly(Caprolactone)‐Poly(N‐Isopropyl Acrylamide)‐Fe₃O₄ Magnetic Nanofibrous Structure with Stimuli Responsive Drug Release

Abstract

Poly(caprolactone; PCL)—poly(N‐isopropylacrylamie; PNIPAAm)—Fe3O4 fiber, that can be magnetically actuated, is reported. Here, a structure is engineered that can be utilized as a smart carrier for the release of chemotherapeutic drug via magneto‐thermal activation, with the aid of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The magnetic measurement of the fibers revealed saturation magnetization values within the range of 1.2–2.2 emu g−1. The magnetic PCL‐PNIPAAm‐Fe3O4 scaffold shows a specific loss power value of 4.19 W g−1 at 20 wt% MNPs. A temperature increase of 40 °C led to a 600% swelling after only 3 h. Doxorubicin (DOX) as a model drug, demonstrates a controllable drug release profile. 39% ± 0.92 of the total drug loaded is released after 96 h at 37 °C, while 25% drug release in 3 h at 40 °C is detected. Cytotoxicity results show no significant difference in cell attachment efficiency between the MNP‐loaded fibers and control while the DOX‐loaded fibers effectively inhibited cell proliferation at 24 h matching the drug release profile. The noncytotoxic effect, coupled with the magneto‐thermal property and controlled drug release, renders excellent potential for these fibers to be used as a smart drug‐release agent for localized cancer therapy.