Carboxymethyl chitosan-modified folate-targeted carbon nanotubes-baicalin complexes for cancer progression and...

Achieving desirable clinical outcomes is difficult given the rising number of cases and mortality of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Consequently, developing an efficient drug delivery system for managing cancer progression and metastasis with relatively low toxicity has proven to be highly promising. Initially, carboxymethyl chitosan was covalently modified and partially substituted with folic acid, and subsequently encapsulated as a shell to deliver carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes and their coupled baicalin to form carboxymethyl chitosan-modified folate-targeted carbon nanotubes-baicalein complexes. The impact on the normal cell line HOK and the oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line CAL27 was assessed using CCK8, live-dead cell assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, wound healing assay, and transwell migration and invasion assays. These analyses confirmed that the complexes induced apoptosis in cancer cells and reduced the migration and invasion of CAL27 cells. Additionally, the complexes demonstrated enhanced biosafety, significantly inhibited the growth of xenograft tumors and tissue metastasis, and altered the expression of proteins associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The results mentioned above imply that the complexes may offer novel applications and serve as an effective strategy for preventing cancer spread and metastasis.