Engineering of biocompatible Zn-MOFs for efficient delivery of curcumin and amplified anticancer potential against Leukemia cells

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are used as effective drug delivery vehicles owing to their higher structural integrity, low toxicity, biodegradability, and flexible surface functionalities. Zn-MOFs provide a variety of options for drug delivery systems such as zinc ions act as attachment sites, providing cavities among organic ligands, serving as carriers, and they self-assemble via ligand into adaptable structures. However, a lack of knowledge of their biocompatibility at the organic and cellular levels limits their widespread use in biomedical applications. Herein, we engineered the polydopamine (PDA)-coated Zn-MOFs as an efficient delivery system of curcumin (CRM) against leukemia cells. PDA-coated Zn-MOFs were completely characterized through different analytical techniques such as Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential (ZP) analyzer and powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD). In-vitro CRM loading and release kinetics studies were performed to determine the percent drug loading and releasing efficiency of PDA-coated Zn-MOFs. The anticancer potential of CRM against leukemia cells was significantly increased after encapsulation into PDA-coated MOFs. These findings highlight the great potential of PDA-coated CRM-loaded Zn-MOFs in nano-based drug delivery systems.