Formulation and characterization of multifunctional polymer modified-iron oxide magnetic nanocarrier for doxorubicin delivery

Chemotherapy is one of the mostly used treatment for neuroblastoma cancer. However, in chemotherapy the drug is transported throughout the body thereby affecting fast growing healthy cells and courses several side effects. Hence, the formulation of multifunctional drug delivery systems (DDSs) as nanocarriers for cancer targeted delivery therapy to specific cancerous tissues has gained considerable attention in the field of nanomedicine. In the current study, a magnetic nanocarrier composed iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (IONPs) coated with different concentrations of Pluronic F127 for the delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) in neuroblastoma treatment was synthesized. The F127–IONPs were synthetized through coprecipitation method. The HR–TEM images showed spherical and evenly dispersed particles of sizes between 10 and 40 nm. The XRD analyses indicated the crystallization of the prepared nanoparticles. Irrespective of the different F127 concentrations and the sizes of IONPs, all the particles exhibited insignificant coercive force and residual magnetism, signifying their superparamagnetic properties. The MTT assay results showed no significant cytotoxicity of the prepared nanocarrier on treated cells. The in-vitro studies of the drug release profile showed a pH-dependent drug release where more DOX was released under acidic environments than in neutral conditions.