Controlled drug release from the polycaprolactone-gelatin blend membranes for cancer therapy and microbial strains growth inhibition

The development of polymeric biomaterials as drug delivery vehicles has now become vital to control the growth of cancerous cells and microbial infections during and after chemotherapy. Herein, the article reports the fabrication of polycaprolactone-gelatin blend membranes along with hydroxymethyl cellulose and polyethylene glycol for the eradication of cancer cells and microbial strains together through controlled delivery of 5-fluorouracil (5Fu) drug. The chemical interactions, crosslinking and the structural establishment of the polymer blends were studied by FTIR spectroscopy. The surface nature and its porosity responsible for drug diffusion from the membranes were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Surface and bulk hydrophilicity of the membranes were tested by contact angle measurements and swelling behavior which showed hydrophilic nature by the addition of natural and hydrophilic polymers. Tensile strength of the membranes was identified by mechanical property studies and the results were found challenging. Nearly, 95% of the 5Fu drug has been successfully loaded to the membranes and the drug has been diffused in a controlled manner. Cytotoxicity results reveal that the membranes exhibited cell viability of 80% against fibroblast cell line (L929) and the anticancer activity resulted with ~ 74% against breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). The membranes followed zero-order drug release kinetics and obeyed Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas models. In addition, the membranes showed excellent growth resistance property against the selected bacterial and fungal strains. Compared to the bare membrane, the blend membranes showed faster degradation with > 75%. In a nut shell, the obtained results clearly reveal that the fabricated membranes would be a potent drug delivery vehicle for the treatment of breast cancer cells and post-surgical microbial infections. Graphical abstract