Targeted anticancer drug delivery through anthracycline antibiotic bearing functionalized quantum dots

Abstract

We herein first report a method for the synthesis of chitosan (CHI)-folate conjugated colloidal ZnO–Mn⁺² quantum dots (QDs) bearing doxorubicin through chemical method (DOX/FA-CHI-QDs) for cancer therapy as well imaging purpose. The entrapment efficiency was determined to be 99.98 ± 0.012% (DOX/FA-CHI-QDs) and 92.0 ± 2.62% (DOX-QDs). The developed DOX/FA-CHI-QDs formulations depict the sustained release pattern at the lysosomal pH (pH 5.0). The DOX/FA-CHI-QDs showed enhanced cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and were most preferentially taken up by the cancerous cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) mechanism. Hence, the QD-based formulation is capable of targeting drug delivery and imaging the delivery process.

Keywords:

• Chitosan
• doxorubicin HCL
• folic acid
• imaging
• quantum dots
• targeting

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest related to manuscript.