A novel one-pot strategy for fabrication of PEGylated MoS2 composites for pH responsive controlled drug delivery

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is one of the most promising two-dimensional (2D) materials after graphene oxide. Its excellent properties make it promising for various applications, especially in the field of biomedicine owing to its small size, unique 2D morphology and photothermal conversion capacity. However, the lack of specific surface functional groups has still largely impeded their surface modification and for drug loading and controlled release. In this paper, the surface of MoS2 sheets was modified by hydrazine groups, which could form dynamic hydrazone bonds with CHO-PEG and doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) to construct the PEGylated MoS2 based drug delivery systems. The structure, thermal stability, surface morphology and particle size of MoS2 related materials were characterized by different equipment. The characterization results confirm that these functionalized MoS2 (MS-CO-NH) composites have been successfully prepared through the formation of dynamic bonds. On the other hand, the release of MS-P-D composites loaded with CHO-PEG and DOX showed that pH responsive behavior, and had a good sustained-release effect. More importantly, cell viability and internalization results showed that MS-CO-NH material had excellent biocompatibility. MS-P-D composite has good cancer treatment effect, and can transport DOX into HepG2 cells and slowly release DOX into the nucleus to kill cancer cells. In view of the results, we believe that this new MoS2-based vector is expected to be a candidate for controlling intracellular drug delivery and cancer treatment. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.