A photoluminescent folic acid-derived carbon dot functionalized magnetic dendrimer as a pH-responsive carrier for targeted doxorubicin delivery

Abstract

In this study, a novel targeted drug delivery system was prepared based on a triazine dendrimer attached to the surface of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂, which was then grafted with ultrahigh fluorescence folic acid-derived CDs (Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–G2.5–CD) for targeted delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) against A549 human lung cancer cells. The successful synthesis of this system was confirmed by various techniques such as zeta potential, SEM, XRD, FT-IR, UV-visible, VSM, EDX, BET, and PL analysis. The encapsulation efficiency of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–G2.5–CD was 84.28% and the in vitro drug release of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–G2.5–CD–DOX was noticeably pH-dependent. The MTT and DAPI tests clearly exhibited that non-toxic Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–G2.5–CD has excellent biocompatibility with A549 cells. Meanwhile, colloidal stability and enzymatic degradation studies showed that Fe₃O₄@SiO₂–G2.5–CD has good stability and biodegradability. According to the obtained results, the as-prepared dendrimer can be proposed for use as a new safe and efficient vehicle for drug delivery systems.