Chitosan-folate decorated carbon nanotubes for site specific lung cancer delivery

•Developed chitosan-folate conjugated MWCNT for the lung targeted delivery of docetaxel.•Chitosan-folate was synthesized and confirmed by FTIR spectroscopic technique.•The cellular uptake and cytotoxicity were performed for different MWCNT on lung cancer cells.•The lung histopathologies after treatments were studied.•Chitosan-folate conjugated MWCNT have enhanced the lung delivery of docetaxel.

The aim of this work was to formulate chitosan-folate conjugated multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the lung cancer targeted delivery of docetaxel. The chitosan-folate conjugate was synthesized and the conjugation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The multi-walled carbon nanotubes were characterized for their particle size, polydispersity, zeta potential, surface morphology, drug encapsulation efficiency and in vitro release study. The in vitro cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and cell cycle analysis of the docetaxel/coumarin-6 loaded multi-walled carbon nanotubes were carried out to compare the effectiveness of the formulations. The biocompatibility and safety of chitosan-folate conjugated multi-walled carbon nanotubes was analyzed by lung histopathology in comparison with marketed docetaxel formulation (Docel™) and acylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The cellular internalization study shown that the chitosan-folate conjugated multi-walled carbon nanotubes could be easily internalized into the lung cancer cells through a folate receptor-mediated endocytic pathway. The IC50 values exhibited that chitosan-folate conjugated multi-walled carbon nanotubes could be 89-fold more effective than Docel™ in human lung cancer cells (A549 cells).

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