Multimodal Decorations of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Improved Cancer Therapy

Abstract

The presence of leaky vasculature and the lack of lymphatic drainage of small structures by the solid tumors formulate nanoparticles as promising delivery vehicles in cancer therapy. In particular, among various nanoparticles, the mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) exhibit numerous outstanding features, including mechanical thermal and chemical stability, huge surface area and ordered porous interior to store different anti-cancer therapeutics with high loading capacity and tunable release mechanisms. Furthermore, one can easily decorate the surface of MSN by attaching ligands for active targeting specifically to the cancer region exploiting overexpressed receptors. The controlled release of drugs to the disease site without any leakage to healthy tissues can be achieved by employing environment responsive gatekeepers for the end-capping of MSN. To achieve precise cancer chemotherapy, the most desired delivery system should possess high loading efficiency, site-specificity and capacity of controlled release. In this review we will focus on multimodal decorations of MSN, which is the most demanding ongoing approach related to MSN application in cancer therapy. Herein, we will report about the recently tried efforts for multimodal modifications of MSN, exploiting both the active targeting and stimuli responsive behavior simultaneously, along with individual targeted delivery and stimuli responsive cancer therapy using MSN.

Progress in Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Agents for Cancer Treatment

“…Thus, it is a sensible target to achieve active targeting. By decorating or functionalizing the MSNs surface with a targeting ligand which can interact with the receptors, the uptake and EPR effect can be enhanced as more carrier accumulate at the tumor site which will increase the efficacy of the treatment [ 133 , 134 ]. Besides that, by introducing the targeting agent, drug delivery is not completely dependent on the EPR effect, and this active targeting can reach hematological malignancies, small metastatic tumors and others that do not exhibit the EPR effect [ 135 ].…”

“…Integrin receptors are found to be overexpressed on angiogenetic endothelial cells and certain tumors, but they are absent in normal cells. This makes them an attractive receptor to be targeted in cancer therapy using RGD peptide [ 133 ]. Recently, Yan and coworkers reported on dual ligand using RGD peptide and folic acid functionalized MSNs to target human breast cancer MCF-7 cell [ 164 ].…”

“…To generate light responsive MSNs, functionalization using a photoactive group is a need. The trigger for drug release will be light with various wavelengths such as ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis) and near-infrared (NIR) [ 133 ]. Wang and coworkers reported on UV responsive MSNs carrier for anticancer treatment.…”

pH-Responsive Release of Ruthenium Metallotherapeutics from Mesoporous Silica-Based Nanocarriers

“…Moreover, some nanomaterials, such as mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) allow the employment of additional cancer-targeting modalities, through devising nanocarriers with stimuli-responsive drug delivery capabilities [ 8 ]. Further beneficial attributes of MSN include their large surface area, uniform mesoporosity, tunable morphology, facile surface functionalization and proven biocompatibility [ 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Mesoporous Materials for Drug Delivery and Theranostics

“…In the review of Dr. Sugata Barui et al [ 2 ], a special focus is given to both the surface decoration of MSNs by ligands for active targeting of cancer cells, exploiting overexpressed receptors, and to the use of stimuli-responsive gatekeepers for the controlled release of drugs to the disease site, avoiding leakage to healthy tissues. In addition, the multimodal modifications of the MSNs for simultaneous active targeting and stimuli-responsive behavior are reviewed with the most recent applications in vitro and in vivo.…”