Fabrication of chitosan/poly(lactic acid)/graphene oxide/TiO2 composite nanofibrous scaffolds for sustained delivery of doxorubicin and treatment of lung cancer

In this work, the synthesized graphene oxide/TiO2/doxorubicin (GO/TiO2/DOX) composites were loaded into the chitosan/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) solutions to fabricate the electrospun chitosan/PLA/GO/TiO2/DOX nanofibrous scaffolds via electrospinning process. The synthesized composites and nanofibers were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Three-factor three-level central composite design was used to determine the influence of PLA to chitosan ratio, TiO2/DOX content and GO/TiO2/DOX content on the release of DOX from nanofibrous scaffolds. Drug loading efficiency and drug release behavior from nanofibers were investigated. The higher sustained release rate of DOX following the small burst release were achieved from nanofibrous scaffolds with 30 and 50 μm thicknesses within two weeks incubation time. The faster DOX release rate from nanofibers was obtained in pH 5.3 compared to pH 7.4. Korsmayer-Peppas kinetic model was used to determine the DOX release mechanism from nanofibers. The cell viability results showed the higher proliferation inhibition effect of nanofibers on target lung cancer cells in the presence of magnetic field.