Engineered pH-Responsive Mesoporous Carbon Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery

Abstract

In this work, two types of mesoporous carbon particles with different morphology, size and pore structure have been functionalized with a self-immolative polymer sensitive to changes in pH and tested as drug nanocarriers. It is shown that their textural properties allow significantly higher loading capacity compared to typical mesoporous silica nanoparticles. In vial release experiments of a model Ru dye at pH 7.4 and 5 confirm the pH-responsiveness of the hybrid systems, showing that only small amounts of the cargo are released at physiological pH, whereas at slightly acidic pH (e.g. that of lysosomes) self-immolation takes place and a significant amount of the cargo is released. Cytotoxicity studies using human osteosarcoma cells show that the hybrid nanocarriers are not cytotoxic by themselves but induce significant cell growth inhibition when loaded with a chemotherapeutic drug such as doxorubicin. In preparation of an in vivo application, in

Tailored Mesoporous Inorganic Biomaterials: Assembly, Functionalization, and Drug Delivery Engineering

“…Mesoporous carbon has similar structure and properties with mesoporous silica, and it usually possesses extra features or advantages than mesoporous silica, such as higher surface area, larger pore volume, and versatile textural properties. [ 46–48,165,166 ] Thus, mesoporous‐carbon‐based materials have attractive drug‐loading capacity and high biocompatibility, and a series of novel mesoporous‐carbon‐based materials are exploited and used as nanocarriers.…”

“…In addition, blood and intracellular fluid possess distinct pH, and it is beneficial for the targeted drug release in pathological cells. [ 22,48,92,145,226,227 ] Based on this natural difference of pH, varied pH‐responsive drug‐release systems have been designed and applied to control the sustained drug release of mesoporous biomaterials, especially for pH‐sensitive nanocarriers, such as mesoporous metal oxide [ 92,185 ] and MOFs. [ 51,203,228 ]…”

“…For efficient drug delivery, nanocarriers are usually required with unique properties, such as ultrahigh loading capacity, excellent biocompatibility, and adjustable degradation ability. [ 11,32–34 ] Thanks to nanoscience and polymerization technology, various biomaterials have been designed and employed as nanocarriers for loading, transferring, and releasing therapeutic drugs, including organic materials (e.g., hydrogel, [ 35–37 ] polydopamine, [ 38–40 ] and polymer network [ 41–43 ] ) and inorganic materials (e.g., silica, [ 11,20,44,45 ] carbon, [ 46–48 ] metal‐based materials, [ 49–51 ] and hydroxyapatite [ 52–54 ] ). Among these biomaterials, mesoporous inorganic biomaterials, such as silica‐based, carbon‐based, metal oxides, clay minerals, and metal–organic framework (MOF), have been regarded as the star materials in DDS application owing to their tunable pore structure, high porosity, and huge surface area, which can provide adequate adsorption sites for pharmaceutical molecules.…”

Stimulus-Responsive Nanomedicines for Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

“…Philip et al Proposed the concept of self-immolative structures in 1981 that a pristine drug can be released without chemical modification after the bond between the carrier component and the drug component is cleaved [ 157 ]. Self-immolative linkers have subsequently been widely used in prodrug design [ 158 , 159 ], sensors [ 160 , 161 ], drug delivery [ 162 , 163 ] and other applications.…”

In situ embedding dual-Fe nanoparticles in synchronously generated carbon for the synergistic integration of magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery

“…[6][7][8][9] As for DDSs, ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) are regarded as a kind of promising candidates owing to their large pore volumes, high surface areas and excellent biocompatibility. [10][11][12][13][14] Thus, structures in the form of a magnetic core coated by OMCs have been proposed for functional integration. [15][16][17] However, only one single small magnetic core is not sufficient to produce substantial MRI contrast effect.…”