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Abstract
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Cancer is considered as one of the most important reason of death in the world in these
years. The different ranges of chemotherapy drugs are used as a significant way to treat
various cancers. In spite of significant applications, anticancer drugs suffer from some limited
effects on target cells due to lack of selectivity, low solubility, uniform tissue distribution,
short half-life in the bloodstream and dose-related toxicity. Methotrexate (MTX), a
chemotherapy drug, is a folic acid analog and uses for the treatment of many different kinds
of cancers. MTX can mainly blocks the dihydrofolatereductase (DHFR) enzyme and
subsequently prevents the production of thymidine [1]. For controlled release of this drug, the
use of appropriate drug systems and carriers is very important. In this study, the application of
graphene oxide nanocomposite hydrogels as carriers of this drug is described. When GO and
hydrophilic polymers are composited, the GO components can increase the mechanical
properties and stabilities of hydrogels compared with those of GO-free hydrogels. The
incorporation of GO into hydrogels can also enhance the molecular adsorption and electrical
conductivity of hydrogels. Numerous composite hydrogels containing various nanomaterials
(e.g., metal nanoparticles and organic nanoparticles) have been fabricated to obtain hydrogens
with improved properties. Compared with such conventional nanomaterials, GO presents an
extremely high surface-to-volume ratio with a large lateral dimension, flexibility, electrical
conductivity, biological activity, and multiple strong molecular interactions with various
molecules [2].
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