DOX-Conjugated keratin nanoparticles for pH-Sensitive drug delivery

Keratin is a good candidate for drug carrier due to its good biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, redox responsiveness, and abundant renewable sources. Herein, doxorubicin (DOX) was first conjugated with keratin through a pH-sensitive hydrazone linkage, and then prepared into particulate drug carrier via desolvation method. The size, morphology, and surface potential of keratin-DOX nanoparticles (KDNPs) were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The drug release results showed that KDNPs performed an excellent pH-sensitive behavior under acidic tumor microenvironment. Cytotoxicity assay by MTT confirmed that KDNPs exhibited the enhanced cytotoxicity against A549 cells. Furthermore, KDNPs had higher therapeutic efficiency in vivo than free DOX. Hemolysis assay indicated that KDNPs was blood compatible. All the results identified that KDNPs are well suited as an ideal drug carrier.