Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Functionalized With Folic Acid/Methionine for Active Targeted Delivery of Docetaxel Publisher



Khosravian P¹ ; Ardestani MS² ; Khoobi M³ ; Ostad SN⁴ ; Dorkoosh FA¹ ; Javar HA¹ ; Amanlou M^{5, 6}
Source: OncoTargets and Therapy Published:2016

Abstract

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are known as carriers with high loading capacity and large functionalizable surface area for target-directed delivery. In this study, a series of docetaxel-loaded folic acid- or methionine-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DTX/MSN-FA or DTX/MSN-Met) with large pores and amine groups at inner pore surface properties were prepared. The results showed that the MSNs were successfully synthesized, having good pay load and pH-sensitive drug release kinetics. The cellular investigation on MCF-7 cells showed better performance of cytotoxicity and cell apoptosis and an increase in cellular uptake of targeted nanoparticles. In vivo fluorescent imaging on healthy BALB/c mice proved that bare MSN-NH2 are mostly accumulated in the liver but MSN-FA or MSN-Met are more concentrated in the kidney. Importantly, ex vivo fluorescent images of tumor-induced BALB/c mice organs revealed the ability of MSN-FA to reach the tumor tissues. In conclusion, DTX/MSNs exhibited a good anticancer activity and enhanced the possibility of targeted drug delivery for breast cancer. © 2016 Pegah et al.