Microwave-Responsive Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for Enhanced In Vitro Controlled Release of Doxorubicin

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are excellent candidates for a range of applications because of their numerous advantages, such as high surface area, porosity, and thermal and chemical stability. In this study, microwave (MW) irradiation is used as a novel stimulus in vitro controlled release of Doxorubicin (DOX) from two MOFs, namely Fe-BTC and MIL-53(Al), to enhance drug delivery in cancer therapy. DOX was encapsulated into Fe-BTC and MIL-53(Al) with drug-loading efficiencies of up to 67% for Fe-BTC and 40% for MIL-53(Al). Several characterization tests, including XRD, FTIR, TGA, BET, FE-SEM, and EDX, confirmed both MOF samples' drug-loading and -release mechanisms. Fe-BTC exhibited a substantial improvement in drug-release efficiency (54%) when exposed to microwave irradiation at pH 7.4 for 50 min, whereas 11% was achieved without the external modality. A similar result was observed at pH 5.3; however, in both cases, the release efficiencies were substantially higher with microwave exposure (40%) than without (6%). In contrast, MIL-53(Al) exhibited greater sensitivity to pH, displaying a higher release rate (66%) after 38 min at pH 5.3 compared to 55% after 50 min at pH 7.4 when subjected to microwave irradiation. These results highlight the potential of both MOFs as highly heat-responsive to thermal stimuli. The results of the MTT assay demonstrated the cell viability across different concentrations of the MOFs after two days of incubation. This suggests that MOFs hold promise as potential candidates for tumor targeting. Additionally, the fact that the cells maintained their viability at different durations of microwave exposure confirms that the latter is a safe modality for triggering drug release from MOFs.

Recent advances in Metal-Organic Frameworks as nanocarriers for triggered release of anticancer drugs: Brief history, biomedical applications, challenges and future perspective

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a promising biomedical material due to its unique features such as high surface area, pore volume, variable pore size, flexible functional groups, and excellent efficiency for drug loading. In this review, we explored the use of novel and smart metal organic frameworks as drug delivery vehicles to discover a safer and more controlled mode of drug release aiming to minimize their side effects. Here, we systematically discussed the background of MOFs following a thorough review on structural and physical properties of MOFs, their synthesis techniques, and the important characteristics to establish a strong foundation for future research. Furthermore, the current status on the potential applications of MOF-based stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems, including pH-, ion-, temperature-, light-, and multiple responsive systems for the delivery of anticancer drugs has also been presented. Lastly, we discuss the prospects and challenges in implementation of MOF-based materials in the drug delivery. Therefore, this review will help researchers working in the relevant fields to enhance their understanding of MOFs for encapsulation of various drugs as well as their stimuli responsive mechanism.

Core–shell particles for drug-delivery, bioimaging, sensing, and tissue engineering

Core–shell particles offer significant advantages in their use for bioimaging and biosensors.