Highly improved pH-Responsive anticancer drug delivery and T2-Weighted MRI imaging by magnetic MOF CuBTC-based nano/microcomposite

Zahra Gharehdaghi; Seyed Morteza Naghib; Rahmatollah Rahimi; Atin Bakhshi; Amirhosein Kefayat; Armin Shamaeizadeh; Fatemeh Molaabasi

doi:10.3389/fmolb.2023.1071376

Highly improved pH-Responsive anticancer drug delivery and T2-Weighted MRI imaging by magnetic MOF CuBTC-based nano/microcomposite

Front Mol Biosci. 2023 Apr 4:10:1071376. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1071376. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zahra Gharehdaghi¹, Seyed Morteza Naghib², Rahmatollah Rahimi¹, Atin Bakhshi³, Amirhosein Kefayat³, Armin Shamaeizadeh², Fatemeh Molaabasi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
² Nanotechnology Department, School of Advanced Technologies, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran.
³ Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Group, Department of Interdisciplinary Technologies, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Cu-BTC framework has received a considerable attention in recent years as a drug carrier candidate for cancer treatment due to its unique structural properties and promising biocompatibility. However, its intrinsic deficiency for medical imaging potentially limits its bioapplications; To address this subject, a magnetic nano/microscale MOF has been successfully fabricated by introducing Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as an imaging agent into the porous isoreticular MOF [Cu₃(BTC)₂] as a drug carrier. The synthesized magnetic MOFs exhibits a high loading capacity (40.5%) toward the model anticancer DOX with an excellent pH-responsive drug release. The proposed nanocomposite not only possesses large surface area, high magnetic response, large mesopore volume, high transverse relaxivity (r ²) and good stability but also exhibits superior biocompatibility, specific tumor cellular uptake, and significant cancer cell viability inhibitory effect without any targeting agent. It is expected that the synthesized magnetic nano/microcomposite may be used for clinical purposes and can also serve as a platform for photoactive antibacterial therapy ae well as pH/GSH/photo-triple-responsive nanocarrier.

Keywords: controlled release; magnetic; magnetic resonance imaging; metal-organic framework; multifunctional nanocomposite; pH-responsive doxorubicin release.