“Three-Bullets” Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Combined Photo/Chemotherapy

Abstract

This contribution reports the design, preparation, photophysical and photochemical characterization, as well as a preliminary biological evaluation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) covalently integrating a nitric oxide (NO) photodonor (NOPD) and a singlet oxygen (1O2) photosensitizer (PS) and encapsulating the anticancer doxorubicin (DOX) in a noncovalent fashion. These MSNs bind the NOPD mainly in their inner part and the PS in their outer part in order to judiciously exploit the different diffusion radius of the cytotoxic NO and 1O2. Furthermore this silica nanoconstruct has been devised in such a way to permit the selective excitation of the NOPD and the PS with light sources of different energy in the visible window. We demonstrate that the individual photochemical performances of the photoactive components of the MSNs are not mutually affected, and remain unaltered even in the presence of DOX. As a result, the complete nanoconstruct is able to deliver NO and 1O2 under blue and green light, respectively, and to release DOX under physiological conditions. Preliminary biological results performed using A375 cancer cells show a good tolerability of the functionalized MSNs in the dark and a potentiated activity of DOX upon irradiation, due to the effect of the NO photoreleased.

Nitric Oxide-Releasing Polymeric Materials for Antimicrobial Applications: A Review

“…Recent research has shown that exogenous NO has a therapeutic effect on human diseases at appropriate concentrations. For example, NO can synergistically enhance the anticancer ability of some anticancer medicines [35,36,37]. Additionally, it has been identified that exogenous NO can actively inhibit bacteria proliferation or directly eliminate bacteria in a relatively high concentration.…”

Recent progress in the toxicity of nitric oxide-releasing nanomaterials

“…22,48,74 The surface functionalization enables the delivery of therapeutics, such as NO or traditional chemotherapeutics, and also promotes a targeted delivery to cancerous cells. 74,75 Among different nanoparticles, AuNPs have been one…”

Porous materials as carriers of gasotransmitters towards gas biology and therapeutic applications

“…While more ordered pore system enhanced the diffusion of water through the cavities, resulting in faster NO-release kinetics, more heterogenous pore structures hindered the solvent diffusion and resulted in more sustained NO-release profiles. In another work, 66 the amine groups in the outer surface of a NH2functionalized mesoporous silica were used to covalently attach erythrosine, a singlet oxygen photosensitizer (PS), while the internal surfaces were used to conjugate a nitro anilinederivative as a photoactive NO-donor. The antitumoral drug doxorubicin (Dox) was further encapsulated into the porous matrix, generating a multidrug carrier.…”