Gefitinib-loaded polydopamine-coated hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticle for gastric cancer application

Gastric cancer is a common malignancy that is the second cancer-associated mortality worldwide. This study aimed to develop a pH-sensitive drug delivery system including hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) loaded with gefitinib (GB) and encapsulated with mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) (HMSNs-GB-PDA) for the treatment of gastric cancer; where the HMSNs mainly function as drug storage platforms, and GB interrupts signaling through the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in cancer cells. In addition, PDA was used as an anticancer factor, mucoadhesive enhancing agent, stimuli, and gatekeeper to mediate the GB release. The drug delivery kinetics (in vitro), mucoadhesive properties (ex vivo), and cytocompatibility in both healthy (HGF) and gastric cancer (AGS) cell lines of this formulation were also investigated. The results showed that HMSNs-GB-PDA not only selectively killed AGS cells but also had no toxic effect on HGF cells, in such a way that more than 70% of AGS cells were eliminated at a GB concentration of 150 ug/ml, whereas only about 15% of HGF cells were killed at the same concentration. In addition, the PDA coating served as a gatekeeper, inhibited burst release, and resulted in a sustained release that lasted for a long time. The ex vivo mucoadhesiveness evaluation revealed the high mucoadhesive property (93.88%) of PDA-coated nanocarriers. According to the results, the suggested HMSNs-GB-PDA could potentially be used to treat gastric cancer.