title: Facile synthesis of magnetic-/pH-responsive hydrogel beads based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles and chitosan hydrogel as MTX carriers for controlled drug release.
abstract: In the present study, methotrexate (MTX)-encapsulated magnetic-/pH-responsive hydrogel beads based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles and chitosan were successfully prepared through a one-step gelation process, which is a very facile, economic and environmentally friendly route. The developed hydrogel beads exhibited homogeneous porous structure and super-paramagnetic responsibility. MTX can be successfully encapsulated into magnetic chitosan hydrogel beads, and the drug encapsulation efficiency (%) and encapsulation content (%) were 93.8 and 6.28%, respectively. In addition, the drug release studies in vitro indicated that the MTX-encapsulated magnetic chitosan hydrogel beads had excellent pH-sensitivity, 90.6% MTX was released from the magnetic chitosan hydrogel beads within 48 h at pH 4.0. WST-1 assays in human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) demonstrated that the MTX-encapsulated magnetic chitosan hydrogel beads had good cytocompatibility and high anti-tumor activity. Therefore, our results revealed that the MTX-encapsulated magnetic chitosan hydrogel beads would be a competitive candidate for controlled drug release in the area of targeted cancer therapy in the near future.
authors.affiliation: a National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center , Nanjing University of Science and Technology , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: a National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center , Nanjing University of Science and Technology , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: a National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center , Nanjing University of Science and Technology , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Renbing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: a National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center , Nanjing University of Science and Technology , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Yewen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: a National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center , Nanjing University of Science and Technology , Nanjing , China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D065546:Drug Liberation; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000737:chemistry*; D008863:Microspheres
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004337:Drug Carriers; D020100:Hydrogels; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D048271:Chitosan; D008727:Methotrexate
keywords: Chitosan; controlled drug release; magnetic beads; pH-responsive