Hyaluronate functionalized multi-wall carbon nanotubes loaded with carboplatin enhance cytotoxicity on human cancer cell lines

Abstract

Cancer is a major global public health problem and conventional chemotherapy has several adverse effects and deficiencies. As a valuable option for chemotherapy, nanomedicine requires novel agents to increase the effects of antineoplastic drugs in multiple cancer models. Since its discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are intensively investigated for their use as carriers in drug delivery applications. This study shows the development of a nanovector generated with commercial carbon nanotubes (cCNTs) that were oxidized (oxCNTs) and chemically functionalized with hyaluronic acid (HA) and loaded with carboplatin (CPT). The nanovector, oxCNTs–HA–CPT, was used as a treatment against HeLa and MDA–MB-231 human tumor cell lines. The potential antineoplastic impact of the fabricated nanovector was evaluated in human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) and mammary adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231). The oxCNTs–HA–CPT nanovector demonstrate to have a specific antitumor effect in vitro. The functionalization with HA allows that nanovector bio–directed towards tumor cells, while the toxicity effect is attributed mainly to CPT in a dose-dependent manner.