In-vitro evaluation of the 5-fluorouracil loaded GQDs@Bio-MOF capped with starch biopolymer for improved colon-specific delivery

Herein, for the first time, the photoluminescent graphene quantum dots@Bio-metal organic framework (GQDs@Bio-MOF) nanohybrid was prepared. BET analysis obtained the average pore diameter of GQDs@Bio-MOF about 11.97 nm. The existence of nanoscale porosity in GQDs@Bio-MOF displays its suitability for 5-Fu loading owing to the smaller size of 5-Fu. 5-Fu entrapment efficiency and loading capacity were found to be ~42.04 % and ~4.20 %, respectively (5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF). The 5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF was capped with starch biopolymer (St@5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF), fabricated sample displayed 4.67 for pHPZC. SEM analysis displayed that the St@5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF microspheres have a spherical shape with a diameter of ~2 μm. The in vitro drug release assay displayed better release behavior for St@5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF than 5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF, releasing about 62.3 % of the entrapped 5-Fu within 96 h of incubation. The 5-Fu release showed the best fitting with the Higuchi model with R2 0.9884. The in vitro cytotoxicity screening outcomes displayed that the St@GQDs@Bio-MOF is a promising biocompatible carrier, with cell viability of higher than 84 %. Accumulation of the results revealed that the St@5-Fu@GQDs@Bio-MOF is a new system with advantages of sustained drug release and biocompatibility that are the main criteria for each newly designed anticancer drug carrier.