A drug-self-gated and tumor microenvironment-responsive mesoporous silica vehicle: "four-in-one" versatile nanomedicine for targeted multidrug-resistant cancer therapy

Nanoscale. 2017 Nov 9;9(43):17063-17073. doi: 10.1039/c7nr05450e.

Abstract

The design of multifunctional nanocarriers for the co-delivery of anticancer drugs and genetic agents offers an effective and promising strategy to combat multidrug-resistant cancer. Herein, we developed a simple and facile method to fabricate a drug-self-gated and pH-sensitive mesoporous silica vehicle as a "four-in-one" versatile co-delivery system, which possesses targeted chemo and gene therapy capability against multidrug-resistant cancer. P-gp siRNA molecules were loaded into the channels of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. A chemotherapeutic drug (DOX) was employed as a gatekeeper via a pH-sensitive benzoic-imine covalent bond. Folic acid conjugation onto the surface endowed this system with an excellent tumor-targeting effect, which was demonstrated by the cellular and tumor targeting assay. The effective downregulation of P-gp protein by the co-delivered P-gp siRNA was observed by western blotting. Both the in vitro cell viability study and in vivo tumor inhibition assay showed a synergistic effect in suppressing cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, this drug-self-gated nanosystem exhibited great potential for improved multidrug-resistant cancer treatment without any further potential risks of capping agents.

MeSH terms

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1 / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Doxorubicin / administration & dosage*
  • Drug Delivery Systems*
  • Female
  • Folic Acid
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Male
  • Mice, SCID
  • Nanomedicine
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / drug therapy*
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Silicon Dioxide*
  • Tumor Microenvironment*

Substances

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Doxorubicin
  • Folic Acid