Folic acid-conjugated magnetic ordered mesoporous carbon nanospheres for doxorubicin targeting delivery.

Folic acid-conjugated magnetic ordered mesoporous carbon nanospheres (FA-MOMCNs) are developed as a targeting delivery vehicle of doxorubicin (DOX) in this work. Investigations on DOX loading mechanism show that the loading capacity of FA-MOMCNs is up to 577.12 mg g-1 by means of both physical porous adsorption and covalent interactions, and the pH-dependent drug release is achieved. Excellent biocompatibility of FA-MOMCNs with blood and cells is confirmed by hemolysis and cytotoxicity assays. With the assistance of effective passive and active targeting, DOX-loading FA-MOMCNs can be readily internalized into cancer cell, where the carried DOX can be efficiently released in the acidic microenvironment of the cancer cell for its proliferation inhibition. This controlled release and targeting vehicle of DOX makes it possible to reduce the toxic effect to normal tissues during circulation in the body and is promising for highly efficient chemotherapy.