Heparinized magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles as multifunctional growth factor delivery carriers

Well-defined magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MMSNs) with a core/shell structure were prepared via a one pot synthesis. Sphere-like magnetite aggregates were obtained as cores of the final nanoparticles by assembly in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The nanoparticles have the property of superparamagnetism with a saturation magnetization value of 20.3 emu g(-1). In addition, the combination of heparin and fluorescence-labeled MMSNs endows the resultant particles (denoted as MFMSNs-HP) with magnetism and fluorescence properties, excellent dispersity in the buffer solutions and cell culture media, anticoagulant activity in the blood stream, and the controlled release of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Furthermore, the bFGF cell viability assays indicate that MFMSNs-HP has nearly no toxicity to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) up to a concentration of 200 μg ml(-1), and the proliferation activity of bFGF incorporated into MFMSNs-HP could be retained for at least 6 days. All of these suggest that MFMSNs-HP may serve as a multifunctional carrier for the delivery of growth factors.