Recent advances in stimuli-responsive drug release and targeting concepts using mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Abstract

Being a developed and promising approach, nanotechnology has attracted a lot of attention in biomedical and pharmaceutical therapy applications. Among nanostructured materials, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are effectively used as nanocarriers for drug delivery systems. MSNs can be tailored-designed by different synthetic techniques. Their morphological characteristics dictate the type of application of such materials. Recently, polymer-based materials have been employed to functionalize the MSNs surface. These modified nanocarriers are loaded with the drug and can unload their “cargo” upon exposure to either endogenous or exogenous types of stimuli. In this study, different targeting concepts, including passive, active, vascular, nuclear, and multistage targeting, are discussed.

Long-term stabilization of DNA at room temperature using a one-step microwave assisted process

“…The sol-gel matrix restricts sample mobility similarly to frozen storage and should provide theoretically similar stabilization. However, traditional sol-gel production involves the use of a hydrolyzing agent (acid or base) and a co-solvent (alcohol) that are not amenable to biological materials [1,19,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Herein, we report a novel, fast (~5 min) silica sol-gel preparation method using a standard microwave-initiated polymerization reaction amenable to stabilization of low concentration samples, like DNA.…”

Glucosamine Modified the Surface of pH-Responsive Poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl Methacrylate) Brushes Grafted on Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as Smart Nanocarrier

“…The size of the nanoparticles is 100- to 10,000-fold smaller than that of cancer cells; therefore, they are able to cross the cell barriers easily [ 1 ]. Among the various nanoparticles that have been utilized as anticancer nanocarriers, including liposomes [ 2 ], polymeric nanoparticles [ 3 ], nucleic acid [ 4 ], carbon [ 5 ], and silica nanoparticles [ 6 , 7 ], the latter stand out for the manufacture of DDSs due to their high surface area, high rigidity, thermal stability, biocompatibility, high loading and protection of the drug, controllable rate of release, and efficient targeting [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Thus, different types of silica nanoparticles such as mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) and hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) have been used as nanocarriers [ 15 ].…”

Silica Nanoparticles in Transmucosal Drug Delivery

“…This will lead to premature drug release and the lack of control over the drug release in the target sites which causes ineffective drug therapy and unwanted systemic side effects. Stimuli-responsive silica nanoparticles release the loaded drug upon both endogenous (e.g., pH, enzyme, redox, and glucose) and exogenous (light, temperature, ultrasound, electric and magnetic fields) stimulation [50]. The ordered porous structure of mesoporous silica nanoparticles allows easy loading of various drugs into these nanoparticles and homogenous distribution of the drugs in the nanoparticles.…”