Exploration of Multifunctional Doxorubicin-Loaded Polydopamine-Coated Supermagnetic Fe3O4 and Au@Fe3O4 Nanocomposites for Efficient Treatment of MDA-MB Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract

The development of highly efficient and biocompatible nanosystems for antitumor drug delivery is crucial for achieving the desired chemotherapeutic effect. Herein, novel delivery systems based on supermagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles and Au@Fe3O4 bimetallic nanoparticles coated with polydopamine (PDA) as a biocompatible polymer were designed. Doxorubicin (DOX), an anticancer drug, was successfully loaded onto the supermagnetic nanocarriers composed of PDA@Fe3O4 and PDA@Au@Fe3O4 nanocomposites via electrostatic adsorption interactions. XPS, FTIR, and XRD techniques confirmed the successful coating of nanoparticles with PDA, the loading of DOX, and the crystalline structure of the nanocomposites, respectively. SEM and TEM analysis demonstrated that synthesized PDA@Fe3O4 and PDA@Au@Fe3O4 nanocomposites were well-dispersed, exhibiting spherical morphologies with average particle sizes of 104.48 +/- 21.92 and 125.82 +/- 30.25 nm, respectively. The vibrating sample magnetization (VSM) analysis of the PDA@Fe3O4 and PDA@Au@Fe3O4 nanocomposites showed supersaturation magnetization values of 34.93 emu/g and 17.86 emu/g, respectively. The synthesized nanocomposites exhibited significant antioxidative properties through the effective quenching of DPPH radicals. Both DOX-PDA@Fe3O4 and DOX-PDA@Au@Fe3O4 nanocomposites exhibited a high DOX encapsulation efficiency and sustained release profiles, especially at pH 5.4. The DOX release kinetics were best represented by the Korsmeyer-Peppas model at pH 7.4 and pH 5.4. The in vitro cytotoxicity tests of the nanocarriers and DOXloaded nanocarriers were assessed utilizing the MTT assay on the MDA-MB-453 cell line, demonstrating minimal toxicity after 24 h. Lastly, these findings confirm that the fabricated nanocomposites form stable nanocarriers capable of enhancing the antitumor efficacy of DOX in cancer cells, promising candidates for targeted cancer therapy.