A Nanocarrier Based on Protein and Reduced Graphene Oxide for Sustained Release and Improvement of Carboplatin Efficacy in Cancer Treatment

Nano-drug delivery has attracted great attention in improving the efficacy of anticancer drugs. This study described the preparation of a nanosize carrier based on protein and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for sustained release and the enhancement of the treatment efficacy of carboplatin in breast cancer cell lines. Moreover, the characterization of bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (BSANP)-coated rGO nanosheets (rGO-BSANP) was performed by FTIR, DLS and SEM techniques. The results demonstrated that BSANP and rGO bond to each other with an average size of 753.1 nm and a surface charge of -16.0 mV. Entrapment efficiency and drug loading of rGO-BSANP in three different ratios (1:1, 1:5 and 1:10) were determined. In vitro carboplatin release from rGO, BSANP and different ratios of rGO-BSANP at 300 min showed that the rGO-BSANP nanocarrier with 1:1 ratio was an appropriate system. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of carboplatin, rGO-BSANP and carboplatin loaded rGO-BSANP (car@rGO-BSANP) was evaluated using the MTT assay, on breast cancer cell lines, MCF7. Results showed that the presence of nanocarrier caused IC50 of carboplatin significantly decreased. Hence, the designed nanocarrier helps sustained release and a lower concentration of carboplatin for cancer treatment.