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Biocompatible polymers coated on carboxylated nanotubes functionalized with betulinic acid for effective drug delivery

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Abstract

Chemically functionalized carbon nanotubes are highly suitable and promising materials for potential biomedical applications like drug delivery due to their distinct physico-chemical characteristics and unique architecture. However, they are often associated with problems like insoluble in physiological environment and cytotoxicity issue due to impurities and catalyst residues contained in the nanotubes. On the other hand, surface coating agents play an essential role in preventing the nanoparticles from excessive agglomeration as well as providing good water dispersibility by replacing the hydrophobic surfaces of nanoparticles with hydrophilic moieties. Therefore, we have prepared four types of biopolymer-coated single walled carbon nanotubes systems functionalized with anticancer drug, betulinic acid in the presence of Tween 20, Tween 80, polyethylene glycol and chitosan as a comparative study. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies confirm the bonding of the coating molecules with the SWBA and these results were further supported by Raman spectroscopy. All chemically coated samples were found to release the drug in a slow, sustained and prolonged fashion compared to the uncoated ones, with the best fit to pseudo-second order kinetic model. The cytotoxic effects of the synthesized samples were evaluated in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (3T3) at 24, 48 and 72 h. The in vitro results reveal that the cytotoxicity of the samples were dependent upon the drug release profiles as well as the chemical components of the surface coating agents. In general, the initial burst, drug release pattern and cytotoxicity could be well-controlled by carefully selecting the desired materials to suit different therapeutic applications.

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Acknowledgments

This study is financially supported by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (MOE) under the PUTRA-IPB grant No. GP-IPB/2013/9425800. Author Julia M. Tan is also grateful to MOE for providing MyPhD scholarship under the MyBrain15 program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Synthesis and Characterization Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Technology (ITMA), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Julia M. Tan & Mohd Zobir Hussein

  2. Laboratory of Vaccine and Immunotherapeutics, Institute of Bioscience (IBS), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Govindarajan Karthivashan, Shafinaz Abd Gani & Sharida Fakurazi

  3. Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Sharida Fakurazi

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  1. Julia M. Tan
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  2. Govindarajan Karthivashan
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Correspondence to Mohd Zobir Hussein.

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Tan, J.M., Karthivashan, G., Abd Gani, S. et al. Biocompatible polymers coated on carboxylated nanotubes functionalized with betulinic acid for effective drug delivery. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 27, 26 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-015-5635-8

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