Polymeric Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications
Abstract
Drug delivery systems based on magnetic nanoparticles present a promising avenue for controlled targeted therapeutics, especially in cancer therapy. Conventional systematic therapeutics encompasses numerous side effects due to its limited selectivity between healthy and cancerous cells. In this thesis, novel polymeric-metallic hybrid nanoaggregates were developed to address this challenge. Magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized via precipitation of iron oxide and was surface modified using a unique chitosan derivative, glycol chitosan (GC), loaded with progesterone for potential hormonal therapy application for breast cancer. Surface characterizations techniques, in vitro drug release kinetics, investigation of progesterone release mechanism by mathematical modeling, and cell cytotoxicity were performed. In the size range of 10-20 nm, the synthetized nanoparticles with various GC compositions showed sustained progesterone release influenced by different polymer concentrations and found to be pH-responsive. The prepared nanoaggregates can be considered as a good potential for biocompatible controlled drug delivery applications.