Evaluation of the Anti-tumor Effect of Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dots in Vivo and in Vitro

OBJECTIVE To investigated the antitumor effect of cRGD modified graphene quantum dot with loading doxorubicin drug delivery system(cR-G@D). METHODS The cytotoxicity of cR-G@D in vitro was analyzed using U87 cells as model by CCK-8 method. Using MCF-7 cells(without αvβ3 expression) and U87 cells(with αvβ3 overexpression) as models, the intracellular uptake and imaging of cR-G@D and other samples were further analyzed by confocal microscopy. Balb/c nude mice(U87) were used to investigate the photothermal effect and tumor inhibition of cR-G@D and other samples in vivo. RESULTS The results of cytotoxicity showed that cR-G@D had a significant inhibitory effect on tumor cells under the condition of laser irradiation. The results of cell uptake assay showed that the uptake of targeted modified graphene quantum dots was much better than that of non-targeted modified graphene quantum dots. There was no significant difference among the tested samples in MCF-7 cells. In vivo experiments showed that the temperature of cR-G@D increased with the passage of time under laser irradiation. The tumor grew slowly under the condition of cR-G@D combined with laser irradiation. CONCLUSION The drug delivery system of cR-G@D have a certain photothermal and tumor inhibitory effect under laser irradiation in vivo and in vitro.