Ghoshal S and Mishra MK
Most of the existing anticancer drugs are very potent small molecules; their efficacy is constrained by their systemic toxicity, narrow therapeutic window, low drug loading, size control, scale up, cost of formulation but also as a result of drug resistance and limited cellular entry. MWCNTs (Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes) offers great advantages over existing delivery vectors, because the high surface area provides multiple attachment sites for drugs. In the present study, 6MP (6-Mercaptopurine) loaded CNTs are developed by solvent method; as a carrier for drug targeting to cancer tissues for exhibiting antineoplastic activity. Non-covalent functionalization of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) was achieved using basic treatment followed by treatment with HCL. The loaded nanotubes were shown to release the drug for more than 10h, thus controlling the release and the amount of drug released from the best performing formulation was 59.2%. The release was found to follow the zero-order release pattern. Our work established a novel, easy-to-make formulation of MWCNTs with better drug loading efficiency increases dispersibility of CNTs in water and bioavailability at cancer site with reduction of systemic toxicity provides new directions for preparation of efficient drug carriers.
