Polyvinylpyrrolidone-functionalized graphene oxide as a nanocarrier for dual-drug delivery of quercetin and curcumin against HeLa cancer cells

This study is to develop a nanocarrier based on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-functionalized graphene oxide (GO–PVP), loaded with both curcumin (CUR) and quercetin (QSR), and then its performance compared with nanocarriers carrying the drugs separately. The study also aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effects of these nanocarriers on HeLa cancer cells. To achieve this, GO was synthesized using a modified version of Hummer's method and subsequently functionalized with PVP. Drug loading onto the GO and GO–PVP nanocarriers was achieved through hydrophobic interactions. Furthermore, the ability of the nanocarriers to accommodate a single drug or a combination of drugs was examined. In our study, combined system shows higher drug loading, that is, 28.1% of QSR and 24.34% of CUR onto GO–PVP–QSR–CUR nanocarrier in comparison to single drug nanocarrier systems GO–PVP–QSR and GO–PVP–CUR which loaded 22.5% of QSR and 18.73% of CUR, respectively. Notably, the synthesized nanocarrier exhibited a pH-sensitive drug release pattern. These results collectively suggest that GO–PVP–CUR–QSR displayed significantly higher cytotoxicity against HeLa cancer cells compared to both single-drug nanocarrier systems at the specified concentrations. In addition, future pre-clinical and clinical studies to evaluate the safety and efficacy of GO–PVP–CUR–QSR for cancer treatment are strongly recommended.

Highlights

• Developed nanocarrier based on polyvinylpyrrolidone functionalized GO (GO–PVP).
• The GO–PVP nanocarrier was loaded with both curcumin (CUR) and quercetin (QSR).
• GO–PVP displays a higher loading capacity for both QSR and CUR compared to GO.
• QSR- and CUR-loaded GO–PVP nanocarriers exhibited higher cytotoxic effects.