Abstract
Currently, chemotherapy is an important method for the treatment of various cancers. Nevertheless, it has many limitations, such as poor tumour selectivity and multi-drug resistance. It is necessary to improve this treatment method by incorporating a targeted drug delivery system aimed to reduce side effects and drug resistance. The present work aims to develop pH-sensitive nanocarriers containing magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MMSNs) coated with pH-responsive polymers for tumour-targeted drug delivery via the folate receptor. 2-Diethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA) was successfully grafted on MMSNs via surface initiated ARGET atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), with an average particle size of 180 nm. The end groups of poly (2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDEAEMA) brushes were converted to amines, followed by a covalent bond with folic acid (FA) as a targeting agent. FA conjugated to the nanoparticle surface was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). pH-Responsive behavior of PDEAEMA brushes was investigated by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The nanoparticles average diameters ranged from ca. 350 nm in basic media to ca. 650 in acidic solution. Multifunctional pH-sensitive magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles were loaded with an anti-cancer drug (Doxorubicin) to investigate their capacity and long-circulation time. In a cumulative release pattern, doxorubicin (DOX) release from nano-systems was ca. 20% when the particle exposed to acidic media, compared to ca. 5% in basic media. The nano-systems have excellent biocompatibility and are minimally toxic when exposed to MCF-7, and -MCF-7 ADR cells.
Highlights
IntroductionSurgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are widely used to treat most cancers
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the world [1,2,3]
It can be seen that Fe3O4 nanoparticles were presented in the middle of Fe3O4@Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with a particle size of 20 nm, which agrees with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image
Summary
Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are widely used to treat most cancers. Surgery and radiotherapy are used for local and non-metastatic cancers. They are inefficient when cancer has spread throughout the body. Chemotherapy, where an anti-cancer drug used, is considered to be an effective treatment method. It is very important to develop a new drug delivery system to transport anti-cancer drugs, targeting tumour tissue [9,10,11]. Various drug delivery systems have been developed as a nanocarriers, such as a carbon nanotube [12], nanostructured polymers [13], and mesoporous silica nanoparticles [14,15,16]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
