pH sensitive chitosan-mesoporous silica nanoparticles for targeted delivery of a ruthenium complex with enhanced anticancer effects

Abstract

Nanocarriers are widely used for delivering drugs to tumors and their development is progressing steadily. In this study, a pH sensitive mesoporous silica nanocarrier, RuNHC@MSNs-CTS-Biotin (CTS = chitosan), is developed for the targeted delivery and controlled release of a ruthenium(ii) N-heterocyclic carbene (RuNHC) complex. The RuNHC@MSNs-CTS-Biotin nanoparticles were composed of RuNHC loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) coated with chitosan-biotin (CTS-Biotin) conjugates. CTS traps the RuNHC complex inside the mesopores and biotin is used as a targeting ligand to improve specific cell uptake. The particle size of RuNHC@MSNs-CTS-Biotin was around 90 nm with a zeta potential of 12.0 mV and the RuNHC loading capacity was 26.31%. The release of RuNHC from RuNHC@MSNs-CTS-Biotin was in a pH-dependent manner, and it exhibited a 59.71% terminal release ratio at pH 5.0, but almost no release under neutral conditions (pH 7.4). Its in vitro cellular uptake and anticancer activity revealed that RuNHC@MSNs-CTS-Biotin could be selectively internalized in cancer cells by biotin receptor-mediated endocytosis and this resulted in a significant improvement in anticancer activities as compared with the RuNHC complex. This multifunctional nanocarrier system provides a promising platform for the development of precisely controllable cancer therapy.

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Complex Bone Diseases: Bone Cancer, Bone Infection and Osteoporosis

“…This targeting strategy relies on the overexpression of some receptors only on the membrane of tumoral cells. Examples of this approach include the functionalization of the particles with antibodies [122,123], proteins [69,124], small molecules [125][126][127][128][129] or peptides [77,130,131], among others.…”

Advances in mesoporous silica nanoparticles for targeted stimuli-responsive drug delivery: an update

“…Another important vitamin employed as targeting label is biotin (vitamin B7 or H), whose relevance is also based on its simplicity and ease functionalization. Like FA, biotin has been employed to target MSNs-based nanosystems containing polymeric coatings [88], AuNPs caps [89], lipid bilayers [90] or surface-loaded prodrugs [91]. Another interesting vitamin for developing targeted examples is cyanocobalamine (vitamin B12), which has been elegantly coordinated to cisplatin-functionalized MSNs by Leeladee and coworkers [92] to obtain a MSN-based system with great potential for drug co-delivery.…”

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