Porous Inorganic Carriers Based on Silica, Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Phosphate for Controlled/Modulated Drug Delivery: Fresh Outlook and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Porous inorganic nanostructured materials are widely used nowadays as drug delivery carriers due to their adventurous features: suitable architecture, large surface area and stability in the biological fluids. Among the different types of inorganic porous materials, silica, calcium carbonate, and calcium phosphate have received significant attention in the last decade. The use of porous inorganic materials as drug carriers for cancer therapy, gene delivery etc. has the potential to improve the life expectancy of the patients affected by the disease. The main goal of this review is to provide general information on the current state of the art of synthesis of the inorganic porous particles based on silica, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. Special focus is dedicated to the loading capacity, controllable release of drugs under internal biological stimuli (e.g., pH, redox, enzymes) and external noninvasive stimuli (e.g., light, magnetic field, and ultrasound). Moreover, the diverse compounds to deliver with silica, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate particles, ranging from the commercial drugs to genetic materials are also discussed.

Synthesis Methods and Favorable Conditions for Spherical Vaterite Precipitation: A Review

“…Synthetic vaterite particles have been used as a carrier of active compounds for medical treatments [10][11][12][13][14]. They have been tested as a template for biodegradable polymer capsules, which can be used for applications in nanomedicine [10,11,15].…”

Inter-protein interactions govern protein loading into porous vaterite CaCO3 crystals

“…59 Additionally, the impact of intermolecular interactions on the adsorption and retention of macromolecules inside the crystal pores has been clearly identified, but to date this remains poorly understood. 60 This is indicated by the number of contradictory findings. For instance, the co-synthesis of catalase into vaterite crystals resulted in the entrapment of a large amount of this protein, which greatly exceeded the maximum possible values calculated theoretically.…”

Metal Organic Framework@Polysilsesequioxane Core/Shell-Structured Nanoplatform for Drug Delivery

“…Nanomaterials with a porous structure are widely investigated in biomedicine due to their features, such as suitable architecture, large surface area, and stability in biological fluids [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Among different types of porous materials, silica, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received significant attention in the last decade [10]. Although they are in the early stages of development [11,12], MOFs, wherein metal ions or clusters link organic ligands into porous materials, have shown great promise as a novel nanomedicine platform due to its large surface area, adjustable pore size, tunable host-guest interaction, and versatile functionality [13,14].…”