Multifunctional Graphene Oxide as a Nanocarrier for Targeted Delivery of Platinum-based Anticancer Drugs

Description

Although platinum-based anticancer drugs including cisplatin have been extensively used in the clinical settings to treat a variety of cancer patients, the side effects and drug resistant issues significantly limit their broader application. Extensive study on the drug mechanisms has revealed that DNA repair machinery responsible for the removal of Pt-DNA cross-links is related to drug resistance. On the other hand, graphene oxide has shown promising activities in anticancer drug delivery due to its unique properties. In this project, we aim to generate non-toxic and functionalized graphene oxide which specifically targets cancer cells and to load platinum-based anticancer agents together with a DNA repair inhibitor. The complex will target cancer cells, cause DNA damage, and inhibit DNA repair simultaneously to reduce the drug resistance issue. The multifunctional drug-loaded graphene oxide will be fabricated, well characterized, and their toxicity as well as anticancer activity will be evaluated in vitro. Such complex holds promise to have improved anticancer activity and reduced drug resistant issue, and is also promising to be further developed as novel nanomedicine containing both cancer targeting moiety and combinatorial anticancer agents.