Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Vehicles in Cancer

Abstract

Even though cancer treatment has improved over the recent decades, still more specific and effective treatment concepts are mandatory. Surgical removal is not always possible, metastases are challenging and chemo- and radiotherapy can not only have severe side-effects but also resistances may occur. To cope with these challenges more efficient therapies with fewer side-effects are required. One promising approach is the use of drug delivery vehicles. Here, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) are discussed as biodegradable drug carrier to improve efficacy and reduce side-effects. MSN excellently fulfill the criteria for nanoparticulate carriers: their distinct structure allows high loading capacity and a plethora of surface modifications. MSN synthesis permits fine-tuning of particle and pore sizes. Moreover, drug release can be tailored through various gatekeeper systems which are for example pH-sensitive or redox-sensitive. Furthermore, MSN can either enter tumors passively by the enhanced permeability and retention effect or can be actively targeted by various ligands. PEGylation prolongs circulation time and availability. A huge advantage of MSN is their explicitly low toxic profile in vivo. Yet, clinical translation remains challenging. Overall, mesoporous silica nanoparticles are a promising tool for innovative, more efficient and safer cancer therapies.

Fly Ash, from Recycling to Potential Raw Material for Mesoporous Silica Synthesis

“…In the last decade, fly ash was used as raw materials for obtaining zeolites X (FAU framework type) [8,9], Y (FAU) [10], A (LTA) [8,9,11] or ZSM-5 (MFI) [12]. Furthermore, the synthesis of mesoporous silica from fly ash has also attracted interest due to the resulting material characteristics [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Mesoporous silica materials obtained from fly ash are considered to surpass the limitations of the microporous zeolites in the removal of macromolecule pollutants by adsorption [13].…”

In Vivo and In Vitro Anticancer Activity of Doxorubicin-loaded DNA-AuNP Nanocarrier for the Ovarian Cancer Treatment

“…Conventional chemotherapy has limitations with a lack of solubility in an aqueous solution, side effects at high-doses, and a short bloodstream circulation half-life [4][5][6]. To overcome these limitations, many approaches using nanoparticles for the drug delivery carrier, such as liposomes [7][8][9], dendrimers [10,11], silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) [12,13], and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) [14][15][16][17] have been proposed. Among those nanoparticles, the AuNPs have some advantages as the drug delivery carrier, such as that it is easy to synthesize with controlled size and shape, simple surface chemistry, and high biocompatibility [18,19].…”

Multicompartmental Mesoporous Silica/Polymer Nanostructured Hybrids: Design Capabilities by Integrating Linear and Star-Shaped Block Copolymers

“…The use of mesoporous silica particles (MSPs) as nanocarriers and promising platforms for delivery, diagnostic, or prognostic biomedical applications received tremendous attention from the scientific community. Their remarkable potential application in nanomedicine is due to their unique properties such as well-defined pores with tunable pore size that can encapsulate therapeutic drugs, genes, proteins, and targeting or imaging agents [1,2], large specific surface area, a reactive surface which can be easily functionalized, and biocompatibility [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Nevertheless, MSPs usually suffer from premature release of the encapsulated payload and leakage before reaching the targeted site.…”