Dual-responsive mesoporous poly-N-isopropylacrylamide-hydroxyapatite composite microspheres for controlled anticancer drug delivery

The advantages of mesoporous hydroxyapatite and the thermo-responsive property of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide make them attractive in drug delivery system, respectively. In this work, mesoporous poly-N-isopropylacrylamide-hydroxyapatite composite microspheres (PNIPAM-m-HAP) were synthesized, characterized and applied as a drug carrier. Doxorubicin was selected as a typical anticancer drug to study the in-vitro release characteristics of drug from PNIPAM-m-HAP in PBS. The release mechanism and release kinetics was also studied. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of the PNIPAM-m-HAP material was evaluated by MTT method. The experimental results depicted that the synthesized PNIPAM-m-HAP material was biocompatible, pH and thermo-responsive, which showed controlled release of doxorubicin. Mesoporous hydroxyapatite and poly-N-isopropylacrylamide composite microspheres were synthesized, characterized and applied as a drug carrier for anticancer drug of doxorubicin, which showed controlled release of doxorubicin and dual response of pH and temperature. Highlights PNIPAM-m-HAP microspheres were synthesized, characterized and used as anticancer drug carrier. PNIPAM-m-HAP was pH and thermo-responsive, which showed sustainable release of doxorubicin. The release mechanism was studied and the biocompatibility of PNIPAM-m-HAP was evaluated.