Chitosan-TEMPO-Oxidized Nanocellulose Magnetic Responsive Patches with Hyperthermia Potential for Smart Melanoma Therapy

Abstract

Melanoma treatment is hampered by high metastasis, limited skin penetration of drugs, and insufficient durability of the existing polymer-based drug delivery systems. This study proposes doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded magnetic patches comprising chitosan and TEMPO-oxidized nanocellulose as a potential magnetic drug delivery system. Magnetic patches were prepared by integrating superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) into chitosan-TEMPO-oxidized nanocellulose films and then loaded with DOX. The magnetic, morphological, mechanical, and degradation properties were modulated by varying chitosan-to-IONP ratio and subsequently evaluated for magnetically triggered drug release, hyperthermia, and in vitro biofunctionality. The microtexture of the film surface indicates homogeneous IONP distribution (SEM-EDX) which contributes directly to the high mechanical strength (35–54 MPa) and magnetic sensitivity. These patches are biodegradable and cytocompatible (MTT assay, cell adhesion, and confocal imaging) with a 30–37% greater swelling index at tumor pH (relative to physiological pH) and exhibit superparamagnetism with a saturation magnetization value as high as 23.3 emu/g. The magnetic field-triggered delivery under a static magnetic field of 50 mT produced a release of >12% out of the total loaded amount within 1 h, while >24 h was required to attain the same release level in the absence of magnetic field. As per hyperthermia studies, the drug-loaded magnetic patch elevates the temperature to the therapeutic range (>42 °C) in less than 7 min. The efficacy of DOX-loaded magnetic patches in treating melanoma was evaluated using B16F10 cells, which exhibited a 79.55% reduction in cell viability after 5 days. A facile preparation method, magnetic hyperthermia, controlled chemotherapeutic effect, and limited complexities make them suitable for skin cancer therapeutics.