BMR Biotechnology-Loading and Release of 6-Mercaptopurine from Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Using Fusion Method

Most of the existing anticancer drugs are very potent small molecules, their efficacy is constrained by their systemic toxicity, narrow therapeutic window, low drug loading, size control, scale up, cost of formulation but also as a result of drug resistance and limited cellular entry. In the last few years, carbon nanotubes have been projected as a promising carrier for many drugs including anticancer agents because of the high surface area and efficient targeting capabilities. The present work is an attempt to investigate the potentialities of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as a carrier for targeting 6 Mercaptopurine to cancer tissues. MWCNTs were carboxy functionalized and then loaded with 6 Mercaptopurine (6MP) using the Fusion method to produce 6MP loaded CNTs. The conjugate was characterized for drug loading efficiency, in vitro drug release and release kinetics. The result indicated that a maximum of about 65% entrapment was achieved. The loaded nanotubes were shown to release the drug for more than 20 hours and thus controlling the release. The release was found to follow the Zero Order and Hixson Crowell release pattern. Our work established a novel, easy to prepare formulation of MWCNTs with better drug loading efficiency and increased dispersibility of CNTs and thus bioavailability at cancer site with reduced systemic toxicity.