Electro-responsive controlled drug delivery from melanin nanoparticles

Electro-responsive controlled drug delivery has been receiving an increasing interest as one of the on-demand drug delivery systems, aiming the improvement of the therapeutics efficacy by controlling the amount of drug release at a specific time and target site. Herein, we report a simple method to develop an electro-responsive controlled drug delivery system using functionalized melanin nanoparticles (FMNPs) with polydopamine and polypyrrole to precisely control the release of dexamethasone (Dex). Optimized FMNPs showed 376.77 ± 62.05 nm of particle size, a polydispersity index of 0.26 ± 0.09 and a zeta-potential (ZP) of −32.59 ± 3.61 mV. FMNPs evidenced a spherical shape, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry analysis confirmed the deposition of the polymers on the FMNPs’ surface. The incorporation efficiency of the optimized Dex-loaded FMNPs was 94.45 ± 0.63% and the increase of ZP to −40.34 ± 4.65 mV was attributed to the anionic nature of Dex. In vitro Dex release studies without stimuli revealed a maximum Dex release below 10%. Applying electrical stimulation, Dex release was augmented, with a maximum of ca. 32% after 24 h. The designed FMNPs provide a powerful biomaterial-based technological tool for electro-responsive controlled drug delivery, capable of surpassing the associated lack of efficiency and stability of current carriers.