Preparation, Characterization, and Cytotoxicity Study of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots Functionalized Hyaluronic Acid Loaded with Docetaxel-Catalyzed Nanoparticles for Breast Cancer Imaging and Targeting In Vitro.

AbstractMany women worldwide are impacted by breast cancer that also claims many lives every year. Docetaxel (DOC) is the natural chemotherapeutic agent used most commonly for the treatment of breast cancer. However, it has some drawbacks including low water solubility, a long half-life, an unregulated rate of discharge from the target site, etc. The objective of our present research reported here was to formulate DOC-loaded hyaluronic acid (HA)-functionalized nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) nanoconjugate (DOC@HA-SDH-NGQDs) by using the adhesive properties of succinic acid dihydrazide (SDH) as a hopeful nanocarrier system for potential breast cancer imaging and targeting. The prepared DOC@HA-SDH-NGQDs nanoparticles (NPs) demonstrated 87.58 % drug loading, 97 % drug release, and −14.5 zeta potential indicating excellent stability. The outcomes of our MTT assay showed the full biocompatibility of the produced nanoconjugate and the significant reduction in MCF7 breast cancer cell viability observed in samples of DOC-loaded HA-SDH-NGQDs NP when we compared to other formulations. The MCF7 cancer cell line was found to respond better to the DOC@HA-SDH-NGQDs nanocomposite than to the standard drug, according to the cellular uptake studies. Conclusively, our described study, we believe, is the first to describe HA-NGQDs nanotherapeutics (NTCs) with the added adhesive qualities of SDH for breast cancer imaging and treatment via pH-triggered targeted anticancer drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]