Development of a multifunctional system based on CoFe ₂ O ₄ @polyacrylic acid NPs conjugated to folic acid and loaded with doxorubicin for cancer theranostics

Abstract

In this work, a multifunctional theranostic nanocomposite based on CoFe₂O₄@polyacrylic acid (PAA)-Folic Acid (FA) Doxorubicin (Dox)_loadNPs was designed for the multifunctional cancer treatment. Several techniques such as TEM, DLS,<i>ζ</i>-potential, vibrating sample magnetometer, XRD, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer were applied for investigating physicochemical properties of the nanosystem. The percentage of the loaded drug, loading efficiency,<i>in vitro</i>release (pH 5.4 and 7.4),<i>in</i><i>vitro</i>MRI measurements, and MTT assay (4T1 and 9A9 cell lines) were evaluated. Results showed that the percentage of loaded drug and loading efficiency was 53.33 ± 3.5 and 80.00 ± 5.3%, respectively, showing the system's high ability for Dox encapsulation. Release study showed that Dox loaded in the CoFe₂O₄@PAA-FA(Dox)_loadNPs released faster at pH 5.4 than pH 7.4.<i>In vitro</i>, MRI measurements confirmed that CoFe₂O₄@PAA NPs could be used as a contrast agent in MRI measurements with<i>r</i>₂ = 18.2 mM^-1s^-1. MTT assay demonstrated the biocompatibility of NPs, also showed a more efficient therapeutic effect for CoFe₂O₄@PAA-FA(Dox)_loadNPs than free Dox and CoFe₂O₄@PAA(Dox)_loadNPs.