nanoformulation demonstrated dose-dependent cytotoxicity towards PC-3 human

prostate cancer cells. Similarly, Kariminia et al. also utilized chitosan-coated iron

oxide nanocomposites for the pH-sensitive drug delivery of an antibiotic, ciproflox-

acin. Herein, in slightly acidic medium, ciprofloxacin was loaded onto the

nanocomposite via hydrogen bonding interactions. The in vitro analysis revealed

that about 99% of the ciprofloxacin drug was loaded by drug delivery system and for

the release of drug, externally applied ultrasound radiations behaved as trigger.

These findings indicate that nanocomposites hold the potential to act as drug carriers

for the controlled antibiotic delivery in human body (Kariminia et al. 2016).

With a prospective to attain a site-specific drug delivery of doxorubicin in

neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, Lerra et al. (2019) synthesized core-shell magnetic

nanohybrids wherein graphene oxide (GO) and magnetic iron oxide (MNP) behave

as core elements and curcumin-human serum albumin conjugate (C@HSA) as a

capping agent. Due to the synergistic effects of GO, MNP, and C@HSA conjugates,

the novel nanoplatform holds the ability of improved efficiency in viability assay,

controlled release of cytotoxic agent, and enhanced therapeutic effect on cancer

cells. Drug releasing experiments revealed the pH-responsive behavior of

nanohybrid where higher release amount was observed in acidic medium as com-

pared to neutral medium. The pH-responsive property of the nanohybrid propels the

controlled release of anticancer drug into the exact tumor site by change in the

surrounding pH environment (Lerra et al. 2019). Similarly, Benyettou et al.

employed mesoporous carbon template for the preparation of nanocrystalline iron

oxide NPs; loaded by anticancer therapeutic doxorubicin and further drug-loaded

NPs was coated by thermoresponsive polymer Pluronic F108 and administrated into

Hela cells. Due to the external triggering conditions like pH and temperature, the

fabricated drug delivery system was able to release the drug via two modes: slow

drug release and burst drug release. Gradual release of drug from the particles

occurred in aqueous solution at low pH. For the burst drug release, high-frequency

field was applied to induce heating in iron oxide NPs and onset of temperature to

41
C, Pluronic F108 polymer undergoes swelling, and wettability of polymer also

changes. This heat-induced change assisted via magnetic hyperthermia ensures the

drug delivery of doxorubicin (Benyettou et al. 2016). Yang et al. effectively

designed slightly folate (FA)-grafted chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles with

the addition of tripolyphosphate (TPP) crosslinker which not only avoid side effects

of the drug but also ease the controlled release and location of drug at targeted site.

The modified MNPs were practically successful for drug release through in vivo

experiments using athymic BALB/c mice with human glioblastoma U87 cells in a

hypodermal tumor model. It discovered that magnetic guidance of FA-grafted CS-

DIX-TPP MNPs extensively decreased the tumor when they were injected through

the tail vein (Fig. 24.2; Yang et al. 2017a).

Nowadays, curcumin has been extensively employed in the drug delivery of

MNPs for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer. In this context, Nosrati et al.

(2018a) developed nanoscale carrier for curcumin (CUR) based on bovine serum

albumin-coated MNPs (F@BSA NPs) via desolvation and chemical coprecipitation

process. The cytotoxic effect of F@BSA@CUR NPs on MCF-7 breast cancer cells

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