Core-shell iron oxide-platinium@metal organic framework/epirubicin nanospheres: Synthesis, characterization and anti-breast cancer activity

Abstract

Potential cancer therapy can be accomplished by utilizing nano-based platforms that supply facilitated drug penetration inside cancer cells. In this paper, an intelligent therapeutic nano-based system derived from metal–organic framework (MOF) core–shell hybrids with the capacity of potential drug loading, tumor microenvironment-triggered drug release as well as promising cell penetration was developed. The core–shell iron oxide-platinium@MOF/epirubicin (Fe3O4-Pt@MOF/EPI) nanospheres were constructed, where these nanoplatforms endow the system with the capability of pH-responsive drug release. The synthesized Fe3O4-Pt@MOF/EPI nanoparticles were characterized using different well-known techniques. The Fe3O4-Pt@MOF/EPI nanospheres were shown to have a dried size of around 50 nm (evidenced by SEM analysis), a spherical/core–shell/porous structure (evidenced by TEM), and an average hydrodynamic size of 92.89 nm (evidenced by DLS). Additionally, TGA analysis revealed that Fe3O4-Pt@MOF/EPI nanospheres had a weight loss at temperatures between 220 and 450 °C associated with the removal of MOF and EPI from the structure of core–shell nanospheres. The N2 adsorption–desorption data also reflected the porosity of core–shell Fe3O4-Pt@MOF nanospheres by indicating type IV behavior with an apparent hysteresis loop in the range of 0.38–0.98. Furthermore, XRD analysis disclosed the changes in the peak intensity at positions of 57.2° and 39.5°, which indicated the effects of loaded MOF on Fe3O4-Pt nanosphere. Moreover, core–shell Fe3O4-Pt@MOF/EPI nanospheres showed high loading capacity and drug release in a pH-responsive manner. Cell viability and cellular uptake assays on mouse fibroblast (NIH3T3) and triple-negative 4 T1 breast (TNFB) tumors showed that the core–shell Fe3O4-Pt@MOF/EPI nanospheres effectively inhibited TNFB cancer cells proliferation through inducing higher cell penetration compared to free EPI while having good biocompatibility against NIH3T3 cells. In conclusion, the present study may provide useful information about the development of efficient anticancer platforms against breast cancer cells, while further in vivo and pre-clinical assays are required to support this study.

Keywords

• Breast cancer
• Metal-Organic Frameworks
• Photodynamic
• Chemotherapy
• Epirubicin