Carboxylated Graphene Oxide as a Nanocarrier for Drug Delivery of Quercetin as an Effective Anticancer Agent

BACKGROUND: Enhancing the therapeutic profile of hydrophobic drugs using the development of biocompatible drug delivery systems is an urgent need. Many types of research have been conducted on graphene derivatives owing to their unique characteristics. METHODS: In this survey, QUER, a natural medicine, was loaded on carboxylated GO, and cytotoxicity assay and the uptake of QUER into prostate cancer cells (PC3) were evaluated. RESULTS: The release behavior of QUER was temperature- and pH-sensitive. Although QUER was loaded with high efficiency, the released rate was low (23.25% at pH 5.5 and 42 °C). The toxicity and intensity of fluorescence in the FREE QUER were higher than the loaded form. CONCLUSION: High-capacity loading and controlled release of GO QUER can be recognized as a proper candidate in treating cancer.