Crosslinked and biofunctionalized γ-cyclodextrin metal organic framework to enhance cellular binding efficiency

The off-target payload delivery of γ-cyclodextrin metal organic framework (γ-CD-MOF) does not meet the requirements for targeted drug delivery applications. Herein, we synthesized γ-CD-MOF and crosslinked γ-CD-MOF (CL-γ-CD-MOF) to obtain the different sizes and different types of γ-CD-MOF. Furthermore, a simple post-modification method was applied to obtain the biofunctionalized γ-CD-MOFs to improve cellular interaction through hyaluronic acid (HA) for the first time. Various methods including measurement of different size of γ-CD-MOF, CL-γ-CD-MOF, and surface modified γ-CD-MOFs, followed by the characterization by various analytical techniques, drug absorption, cell viability, and cellular uptake studies, were performed to determine the functionality of the studied γ-CD-MOF-HA systems. The conjugation of γ-CD-MOF with HA (γ-CD-MOF-HA) showed a 4.8% higher average drug loading capacity than the γ-CD-MOF. It was found that the γ-CD-MOF-HA showed pH-responsive drug release and enhanced the cellular uptake of Doxorubicin (Dox) in HeLa cells. The present study results indicate the efficacy of the γ-CD-MOF-HA as a nano carrier, enabling a new direction for γ-CD-MOF to target the different tissues and cells. • Crosslinked and biofunctionalized CD-MOF with hyaluronic acid. • Characterization of surface modified CD-MOF and crosslinked CD-MOF. • Cytocompatibility, drug release, and cell binding study of CD-MOF-HA.