Molecular dynamics study on the adsorption and release of doxorubicin by chitosan-decorated graphene

The safe and effective delivery of anticancer drug molecules (e.g., doxorubicin [DOX]) into target sites is of great significance in cancer therapy. Recently, considerable attention has been devoted to non-covalently functionalized graphene as a potential anticancer delivery material. Herein, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the interaction mechanism between DOX and chitosan-decorated graphene with atomic details at the molecular level. The results demonstrated that the controllable loading and release of DOX by chitosan-decorated graphene may be achieved by adjusting the solution pH (the protonation state of chitosan) and the concentration of both DOX and chitosan molecules. In particular, the bare surface of graphene can be controlled by the aggregation and dispersion of chitosan, which further affects the adsorption and release of DOX molecules.