Magnetic reduced graphene oxide (MrGO) nanocomposites as nano carries for loading and transferring of 10-hydroxycamptothecin

10-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) is a natural alkaloid which has strong antitumor activity by inhibiting the degradation of the cleaved DNA strand. As a rich plasma protein, human serum albumin is a medium for transporting of various drugs and endogenous compounds. Due to its high water dispensability and good biocompatibility, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an eminent candidate for delivery of medicinal molecules. In cancer therapy, ferrosoferric oxide (Fe3O4) could be used to improve the therapeutic action and the imaging-guided delivery. In this work, Fe3O4 was anchored onto rGO nanosheets, and the formed Fe3O4/rGO nanocomposite showed efficient tumor targeting. The binding interaction between HCPT with HSA was investigated and the magnetic reduced graphene oxide (MrGO) had strong effect on the binding interaction. The comet assay results showed that MrGO had low toxicity, and the main binding forces between HCPT and HSA or HSA-HCPT were hydrogen bond and van der Waals force. In addition, it was found that the added MrGO greatly enhanced the binding of HCPT with HSA. The results offer some insight on the interaction between nanomaterials loaded with medicinal molecules and serum albumin at a molecular level.