Activities of gallic acid and Fe doped, and glucose oxidase or gold modified ZIF-8 based drug delivery systems in triple negative breast cancer

Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanostructures exhibit pH-sensitive drug release properties, making them highly promising for anticancer drug delivery systems. In our study, we synthesized Fe-doped ZIF-8 metal–organic framework (MOF) structures modified with gallic acid (GA) as a drug delivery system. Our objective was to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug carriers by incorporating glucose oxidase (GOx) or gold (Au) additives. The successful fabrication of nanocarriers and their structural properties were confirmed using SEM, TEM, FTIR, zeta potential, XRD, and TGA analyses. The designed ZIF-8-based nano drug carriers demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency for the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In vitro drug release studies at pH 5 and pH 7.4 revealed the increased release of 5-FU from ZIF-8@GA@Fe@5-FU, ZIF-8@GA@Fe@5-FU@GOx, and ZIF-8@GA@Fe@5-FU@Au, primarily due to the acid-labile degradation of ZIF-8 at pH 5. Among these formulations, ZIF-8@GA@Fe@5-FU@GOx exhibited the most significant impact, inducing apoptosis and causing notable morphological alterations in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Additionally, the ZIF-8@GA@Fe@5-FU formulation, along with ZIF-8@GA@Fe@5-FU@Au, exhibited intriguing luminescence properties. The obtained results demonstrate the potential of these developed drug delivery systems (DDSs) as viable alternatives for breast cancer cell lines. The unique properties of ZIF-8-based nanostructures, combined with the incorporation of GA and the potential addition of GOx or Au, offer promising opportunities for enhancing the targeted delivery and efficacy of anticancer drugs.