Modified etoposide loaded graphene oxide nanoparticles: In-depth physical and biological evaluation for lung cancer treatment

Background: Lung cancer is approximately 25% of all death cases in any cancer and the death beats the number of deaths reported by colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer combined. Objectives: This present study was carried out with an objective to investigate the possibility of graphitic carbon toward making a multifunctional anti-lung cancer nano-platform targeting etoposide (ETS) as a model drug. Materials and Methods: First, the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO) was made by the Hummer method based on graphite flakes and further modified with folic acid (FA) and polyethylene glycol to make FA/GO/ETS. The formation of FA/GO/ETS was confirmed by most modern methods of elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering. Near-infrared (NIR) photothermal efficiency and NIR-triggered ETS release were also examined. Cell culture analysis consists of a cellular uptake study and a cell survival test. Results: The ETS entrapped onto the FA/GO nanocarrier was 56.76 ± 3.7. The XRD pattern of the FA/GO/ETS composite exhibited semi-crystalline behavior, which implies that FA was incorporated and ETS loaded on the GO surface. The mean particle size (115 ± 3 nm) of FA/GO/ETS was highly decreased in comparison with (408 ± 09) of GO and the surface charge was (−34.1 ± 2.2) highly negative. Studies showed increased cellular uptake (mean fluorescence intensity of ~167.75) of FA/GO/ETS than non-targeted GO/ETS, particularly in the presence of NIR. FA/GO/ETS showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity (82% at 75 μM concentration of ETS) in vitro, suggesting that it can be used in photo-conjugated chemotherapy as an adjuvant to the treatment of lung cancers.Conclusion: Comprehensively, this research echoes the prospective benefits of using FA/GO/ETS nanocomposites in association with the purposeful usage as an effective strategy in lung cancer care.