Folic acid conjugated palygorskite/Au hybrid microgels: Temperature, pH and light triple-responsive and its application in drug delivery.

Herein, folic acid conjugated poly (NIPAM-co-functional palygorskite-Au-co-acrylic acid) (FA-PNFA) hybrid microgels were fabricated by emulsion polymerization. The introduction of acrylic acid can increase the low critical solution temperature (LCST) of FA-PNFA from 36 °C at pH 5.5-42 °C at pH 7.4. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) was chosen as the load drug, the results show that the DOX release behavior is driven by temperature, pH and light. Cumulative drug release rate can reach 74 % at 37 °C and pH 5.5 while only 20 % at 37 °C and pH 7.4, which effectively avoided the early leakage of the drug. In addition, by exposing FA-PNFA hybrid microgels to laser irradiation, the cumulative release rate was increased by 5 % compared to the release rate under dark conditions. Functional palygorskite-Au as physical crosslinkers not only improves the drug loading content of microgels but also promotes the release of DOX through light drive. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay demonstrated that the FA-PNFA are nontoxic up to 200 μg mL towards 4T1 breast cancer cell. Meanwhile, DOX-loaded FA-PNFA show more significant cytotoxicity than the free DOX. Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) revealed that the DOX-loaded FA-PNFA could be efficiently taken by 4T1 breast cancer cells. FA-PNFA hybrid microgels not only improve the LCST of PNIPAM, but also endow the microgels with photostimulation responsiveness, which can release drugs in response to the triple stimulation response of temperature, pH and light, thus effectively reducing the activity of cancer cells, making them more promising for wider medical applications.