Formation of graphene oxide-hybridized nanogels for combinative anticancer therapy

The low efficacy and high toxicity of chemotherapy have been driving increasing attention on development of combined anticancer therapy technique. In the current work, graphene oxide (GO)-hybridized nanogels (AGD) were developed for delivery of an anticancer drug (doxorubicin (DOX)), which simultaneously presented photothermal therapeutic effects against cancer cells. AGD nanogels were fabricated by in situ incorporating GO nanoplatelets into a biodegradable polymer (alginate) via a double emulsion approach using a disulfide molecule as crosslinker, followed by DOX encapsulation via electrostatic interactions. The nanogels released DOX drug in an accelerated way under both acidic and reducible conditions mimicking extracellular tumor microenvironments and intracellular compartments. The stimulative release controllability of the nanogels improved the DOX internalization and long-term drug accumulation inside A549 cells (an adenocarcinoma human alveolar basal epithelial cell line), which, together with their photothermal effect, resulted in a good anticancer cytotoxicity, indicating their promising potential for combinative anticancer therapy.