Functionalization of Single and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Polypropylene Glycol Decorated Pyrrole for the Development of Doxorubicin Nano-Conveyors for Cancer Drug Delivery
Chiara Pennetta,
Giuseppe Floresta,
Adriana Carol Eleonora Graziano,
Venera Cardile,
Lucia Rubino,
Maurizio Galimberti,
Antonio Rescifina,
Vincenzina Barbera
Affiliations
Chiara Pennetta
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milano, Italy
Giuseppe Floresta
Department of Drug Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Adriana Carol Eleonora Graziano
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Science, Section of Physiology, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy
Venera Cardile
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Science, Section of Physiology, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 97, 95123 Catania, Italy
Lucia Rubino
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milano, Italy
Maurizio Galimberti
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milano, Italy
Antonio Rescifina
Department of Drug Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Vincenzina Barbera
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milano, Italy
A recently reported functionalization of single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, based on a cycloaddition reaction between carbon nanotubes and a pyrrole derived compound, was exploited for the formation of a doxorubicin (DOX) stacked drug delivery system. The obtained supramolecular nano-conveyors were characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The supramolecular interactions were studied by molecular dynamics simulations and by monitoring the emission and the absorption spectra of DOX. Biological studies revealed that two of the synthesized nano-vectors are effectively able to get the drug into the studied cell lines and also to enhance the cell mortality of DOX at a much lower effective dose. This work reports the facile functionalization of carbon nanotubes exploiting the “pyrrole methodology” for the development of novel technological carbon-based drug delivery systems.
