Shape-Controlled Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles with Multifunctional Capping for In Vitro Cancer Treatment

A series of multifunctional shape-controlled nonspherical hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) drug carriers have been prepared by employing Fe₂ O₃ with four morphologies (capsule, cube, rice, and rhombus) as a sacrificial template and a multifunctional cap as the encapsulating shell. The resulting shape-controlled nonspherical HMSNs perfectly replicate the original morphology of the Fe₂ O₃ templates, which possess a high specific surface area, good monodispersity, perpendicular mesoporous channels, and excellent biocompatibility. After modification of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and folic acid (FA), the shape-controlled HMSN core and functional shell can then be integrated into a single device (HMSNs-PEG-FA) to provide an efficient and tumor-cell-selective drug-delivery system. The shape-controlled HMSNs and HMSNs-PEG-FA all show controlled pH-responsive release behavior for the anticancer drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). The in vitro results indicate that HMSNs-PEG-FA is biocompatible and selectively targets HeLa cells (overexpressed folate receptors). Fluorescence images show that desirable surface modification and the nonspherical shape effectively facilitate cellular internalization of HMSNs. It is expected that the construction of these unique nanomaterials with controlled morphology through the hard-templating technique may also provide useful information for the design of nanoscale multifunctional systems.