Design and Construction of Ph-Sensitive Drug Delivery System Based on Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment by Drug Delivery System Containing Curcumin

Much research has been carried out to improve drug delivery and targeted drug delivery to the body in order to minimize side effects, provide controlled delivery of the drug to the desired location and to achieve optimal therapeutic effects. Zeolitic imidazolate-8 (ZIF-8) is a subset of MOFs that are biocompatible, stable in the aquatic environment and have adjustable porosity. In addition, at pHs 5 or 6, the bond between imidazolate-zinc ions disappears and releases the drug. In this project, ZIF-8 was used as a curcumin carrier to improve the physicochemical properties and enhance the efficacy of lipophilic drugs in the treatment of cancer.

This research was a basic experimental study. ZIF-8 nanoparticles were fabricated by co-precipitation method.  . In addition, to prove their pH sensitivity, curcumin was first encapsulated in situ in ZIF-8 and characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, DLS methods. Then its release was investigated at two pH of five and 7.4 saline phosphate buffer. Finally, In vitro study by MTT assay was performed on prostate cancer cell line (PC3). Data were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS version 16 software.

After characterization of the nanoparticles by the mentioned methods, it was found that the nanoparticle dimensions were between 80-60 nm and the nanoparticle dimensions with curcumin were between 120-110 nm.  In addition, in the synthesis of ZIF-8 nanoparticles, 72% of the drug was loaded, which is an acceptable amount.

These nanoparticles showed high capacity in the treatment of prostate cancer and minimal damage to healthy cells. It can be said that using this formulation for targeted drug delivery of cancer not only reduces the side effects of anti-cancer drugs but also increases their effectiveness and can also be used to deliver low-soluble or insoluble drugs in biological environments.