pH-Controllable drug release using hydrogel encapsulated mesoporous silica

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SBA-15) offer high surface area for drug loading.
• Protein drug delivery requires systems that protect cargo and control release.
• pH-sensitive polymers can modulate drug release based on physiological conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel pH-responsive drug delivery system for protein therapeutics.
• To encapsulate bovine serum albumin (BSA) within amine-functionalized SBA-15 silica.
• To achieve controlled release of BSA at physiologically relevant higher pH values.

Main Methods:

• Functionalization of SBA-15 silica with amine groups.
• Loading of bovine serum albumin (BSA) into the functionalized SBA-15.
• Encapsulation of BSA-loaded SBA-15 with a poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) coating.
• In vitro release studies at different pH values (1.2 and 7.4).

Main Results:

• Successful encapsulation of BSA within PAA-coated SBA-15.
• BSA release was significantly higher at pH 7.4 compared to pH 1.2.
• The PAA coating demonstrated pH-dependent release behavior.

Conclusions:

• The PAA-encapsulated SBA-15 system provides a pH-triggered release mechanism for protein drugs.
• This system is suitable for delivering protein drugs to specific sites like the small intestine or colon.
• The developed nanoparticle system shows potential for targeted oral protein drug delivery.