Mesoporous Silica Nanomaterials Research Articles

In Vivo Delivery of Silica Nanorattle Encapsulated Docetaxel for Liver Cancer Therapy with Low Toxicity and High Efficacy

Mesoporous silica nanomaterial is one of the most promising candidates as drug carrier for cancer therapy. Herein, in vitro and in vivo study of silica nanorattle (SN) with mesoporous and rattle-type structure as a drug delivery system was first reported. Hydrophobic antitumor drug docetaxel (Dtxl) was loaded into the PEGylated silica nanorattle (SN-PEG) with a diameter of 125 nm via electrostatic absorption. In human liver cancer cell Hep-G2, the half-maximum inhibiting concentration (IC(50)) of silica nanorattle encapsulated docetaxel (SN-PEG-Dtxl) was only 7% of that of free Dtxl at 72 h. In vivo toxicity assessment showed that both nanocarrier of silica nanorattle (40 mg/kg, single dose) and SN-PEG-Dtxl (20 mg/kg of Dtxl, three doses) had low systematic toxicity in healthy ICR mice. The SN-PEG-Dtxl (20 mg/kg, intravenously) showed greater antitumor activity with about 15% enhanced tumor inhibition rate compared with Taxotere on the marine hepatocarcinoma 22 subcutaneous model. The results prove that the SN-PEG-Dtxl has low toxicity and high therapy efficacy, which provides convincing evidence for the silica nanorattle as a promising candidate for a drug delivery system.

Isomer-Dependent Adsorption and Release of Cis- and Trans-platin Anticancer Drugs by Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

We report on adsorption and release of the anticancer drugs cisplatin and transplatin from mesoporous silica nanomaterials, emphasizing the differences between cisplatin and its much less toxic isomer. Two types of particles, MCM-41 and SBA-15, were used, either as just synthesized or after calcination to remove the templates. The particles were characterized by TEM, nitrogen physisorption, and elemental analysis. The UV-vis spectra of cisplatin and transplatin were obtained and the intensities of several bands (205-210 nm, 210-220 nm, 220-235 nm, and 300-330 nm) were found proportional to drug concentrations, allowing their use for measuring drug concentration. To evaluate drug adsorption by nanoparticles, nanoparticles were incubated in drug solutions and removed by centrifugation, after which the supernatants were scanned by spectrometer to determine drug remaining. It was found that calcined MCM adsorbed less cisplatin or transplatin per particle than as-synthesized MCM. SBA nanoparticles adsorbed slightly more cisplatin than MCM, and slightly less transplatin. Measurements of drug adsorption as a function of time show that drug is rapidly adsorbed by all particles studied. This rapid adsorption is probably associated with adsorption of drug on the external surfaces of the particles as well as the possible physisorption within the surfactant assemblies or by replacing the surfactant molecules or ions in the case of the as-synthesized materials. For calcined SBA particles, it is followed by a slow take-up of drug, perhaps due to the internal pores. There is no slow take-up by as-synthesized SBA particles or by either as-synthesized or calcined MCM particles. Measurement of the release of platinum drugs from nanoparticles previously soaked in drug solutions showed a substantial quick release for all particles and both drugs. This was followed by a slow release of Pt species in the case of transplatin in calcined SBA.

Nanostructured Silica Materials As Drug-Delivery Systems for Doxorubicin: Single Molecule and Cellular Studies

We apply mesoporous thin silica films with nanometer-sized pores as drug carriers and incorporate the widely used anticancer drug Doxorubicin. Through single-molecule based measurements, we gain mechanistic insights into the drug diffusion inside the mesoporous film, which governs the drug-delivery at the target-site. Drug dynamics inside the nanopores is controlled by pore size and surface modification. The release kinetics is determined and live-cell measurements prove the applicability of the system for drug-delivery. This study demonstrates that mesoporous silica nanomaterials can provide solutions for current challenges in nanomedicine.

Bottom-up tailoring of nonionic surfactant-templated mesoporous silica nanomaterials by a novel composite liquid crystal templating mechanism

A bottom-up tailoring methodology was developed to successfully regulate the morphology and size of novel composite micellar bunches with liquid crystal mesophases self-assembled from multivalent metal ions (ZrIV) and nonionic surfactants (P123), and subsequently the morphologies and dimensions of liquid crystal-templated mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs). The composite micellar bunches with liquid crystal mesophases were directly evidenced by TEM imaging and DLS measurements. By virtue of these morphologically and dimensionally controllable composite micellar bunches as templates, SBA-15 MSNs were well tailored from long nanorods of 645 × 245 nm to short nanorods of 360 × 210 nm, and even to nanoplates of 310 × 740 nm and subsphaeroidal nanoparticles of 230 nm.

Fine control over the morphology and structure of mesoporous silica nanomaterials by a dual-templating approach

Mesoporous silica nanomaterials with varied morphologies and pore structures, including nanospheres, nanoellipsoids, helical nanorods and multi-lamellar nanovesicles, were synthesized by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) as co-templates.

Biocompatible mesoporous silica nanoparticles with different morphologies for animal cell membrane penetration

Abstract Two MCM-41 type, fluorescein-labeled mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs) consisting of spherical and tube-shaped particles were synthesized and characterized. Both materials have hexagonally arranged mesopores with high surface area (>950 m2/g) and a narrow distribution of pore diameters. The cellular uptake efficiency and kinetics of both MSNs were measured in a cancer cell line (CHO) and a noncancerous cell line (fibroblasts) by flow cytometry and fluorescence confocal microscopy. The correlation between the particle morphology and aggregation of MSNs to the effectiveness of cellular uptake was investigated. We envision that our study on the morphology dependent endocytosis of MSNs would lead to future developments of efficient transmembrane nanodevices for intracellular sensing and gene/drug delivery.

Mesoporous Silica Nanomaterial-Based Biotechnological and Biomedical Delivery Systems

This review details the recent advancements in the design of mesoporous silica nanomaterials for controlled release drug, gene and neurotransmitter delivery applications. The high surface area (>900 m2/g), tunable pore diameter (2-20 nm) and uniform mesoporous structure (hexagonal channels or cubic pores) of the mesoporous silicas offer a unique advantage for loading and releasing large quantities of biomedical agents. Recent breakthroughs in controlling the particle size and shape of these materials have greatly improved the biocompatibility and the cellular uptake efficiency. The strategy of using various removable capping moieties, such as photo- or redox-responsive organic groups, inorganic nanoparticles, dendrimers and polymers, to encapsulate guest biomolecules inside the porous matrices further enables the utilization of these surface-functionalized mesoporous silica nanomaterials for stimuli-responsive controlled release in vitro and in vivo. In addition to the reviewed studies, many new and exciting applications of these novel materials will soon be realized.