Inorganic nanosheets are endowed
with many two-dimensional (2D)
morphological features including ultra-high specific surface area,
ultra-thin thickness, easy functionalization, and so on. They push
forward an immense influence on effective cancer diagnosis and therapy,
overcoming the inherent limitations of traditional treatment methods.
However, long-term toxicity and poor biocompatibility are the critical
issues for most inorganic nanosheets, which hinder their further oncological
applications and clinical translations. Muscovite, also named white
mica (WM), an aluminosilicate, is a major component of traditional
Chinese medicine, which can be exfoliated into 2D nanosheets and expected
to be a potential drug carrier. In this study, WM powder was exfoliated
to prepare WM nanosheets (WMNs) through a polyamine intercalation
method. In addition, doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox) was loaded to
WMNs via physical adsorption and electrostatic interaction
to prepare Dox-loaded WMNs (Dox@WMNs). Then, we studied that Dox@WMNs
released Dox in phosphate buffer saline. We also studied the cellular
uptake and cytotoxicity of Dox@WMNs in vitro. The
results illustrated that Dox@WMNs cumulatively released Dox much faster
and more at acidic pH (6.0 and 4.6) compared with that at physiological
pH. In addition, WMNs showed selective cytotoxicity. Within a certain
concentration range, WMNs were cytotoxic to Hela cells but non-cytotoxic
to RAW 264.7 cells. Compared with cytotoxicity at pH 7.4, the cytotoxicity
of Dox@WMNs was significantly enhanced at pH 6.4 and 4.6. WMNs mainly
promoted the immunostimulatory polarization of RAW 264.7 cells into
M1 macrophages.