title: Chitosan-functionalized graphene oxide as a nanocarrier for drug and gene delivery.
abstract: The covalent functionalization of graphene oxide (GO) with chitosan (CS) is successfully accomplished via a facile amidation process. The CS-grafted GO (GO-CS) sheets consist of about 64 wt.% CS, which imparts them with a good aqueous solubility and biocompatibility. Additionally, the physicochemical properties of GO-CS are studied. As a novel nanocarrier, GO-CS is applied to load a water-insoluble anticancer drug, camptothecin (CPT), via π-π stacking and hydrophobic interactions. It is demonstrated that GO-CS possesses a superior loading capacity for CPT, and the GO-CS-CPT complexes show remarkably high cytotoxicity in HepG2 and HeLa cell lines compared to the pure drug. At the same time, GO-CS is also able to condense plasmid DNA into stable, nanosized complexes, and the resulting GO-CS/pDNA nanoparticles exhibit reasonable transfection efficiency in HeLa cells at certain nitrogen/phosphate ratios. Therefore, the GO-CS nanocarrier is able to load and deliver both anticancer drugs and genes.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hongqian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Yongzheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ping
authors.forename: Nanda Gopal
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Sahoo
authors.forename: Tongfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Leong Huat
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Gan
mesh_terms: D002166:Camptothecin / Q000494:pharmacology; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006108:Graphite / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration / Q000187:drug effects; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D011199:Potentiometry; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D055672:Static Electricity; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D006108:Graphite; D004247:DNA; D048271:Chitosan; D002166:Camptothecin