A novel carboxymethyl chitosan-based folate/Fe3O4/CdTe nanoparticle for targeted drug delivery and cell imaging

We developed a novel folate conjugated carboxymethyl chitosan-ferroferric oxide doped cadmium telluride quantum dot nanoparticles (abbreviate: CFLMNPs). Processing parameters affected the end product properties were optimized systematically. The morphology, composition, and properties of the as-prepared CFLMNPs have also been characterized and determined using TEM, SEM, DLS, FT-IR spectra, EDX, fluorescence spectroscopy, VSM, XRD and LSCM studies. The resulting CFLMNPs possessed intense superparamagnetic effect and photoluminescence (PL) property at room temperature. The size range of CFLMNPs was from 170 to 190 nm under simulate physiological environment. The anticancer drug selected in this study was adriamycin which can be used for the human liver cancer treatment. Under present experiment condition, the loading efficiency of ADM was approximately 36.6 wt% for CFLMNPs. The cumulative release under sink condition mainly occurred for the first 24 h, and could reach 36% at pH 5.3 and 15% at pH 7.4 within 24 h. 85% and 70% of viability of L02 and HepG2 cells were watched at a blank CFLMNPs concentration of 1 mg/mL, respectively. It is found that the CFLMNPs were transported into the HepG2 cells by an folate-receptor-mediated endocytosis mechanism. These results indicate that the multifunctional CFLMNPs possess a high drug loading efficiency, low cytotoxicity and favorable cell compatibility, and are promising candidates for carboxymethyl chitosan-based targeted drug delivery and cellular imaging.

► Magnetic, luminescent and specific multifunctional nanoparticles are obtained.
► Processing parameters strongly affect the resulting end product properties.
► The drug carrier are stable under simulate physiological environment.
► Biocompatible drug carrier displays pH-regulated release profile in vitro.
► Nanoparticles designed can be applied in drug delivery and cell imaging.