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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Porous Silicon Microparticles for Delivery of siRNA Therapeutics
Published on: January 15, 2015
pH-responsive chitosan-mediated spherical mesoporous silica microspheres for high loading and controlled delivery of
Qianqian Zhang1, Tong Wan1, Guocheng Jin2
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
Abstract:
The objective of this study is to develop a drug carrier to overcome the inherent drawbacks of 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu), including low bioavailability, short half-life, and systemic toxicity. In the present work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) capped by chitosan (CS) to encapsulate 5-Fu (5-Fu MSNs/CS) were fabricated by the sol-gel process, ultrasonic impregnation, and emulsion cross-linking. The 5-Fu MSNs/CS microspheres exhibit pH-responsive drug release and remarkable drug encapsulation capacity, as well as perfect sphericity, high specific surface area (680.62 cm2/g), and uniform particle size (2.64 ± 0.05 μm). The drug-loading content and encapsulation efficiency are 14.12 ± 0.53 % and 82.21 ± 2.13 %, respectively. The cumulative release of 5-Fu from MSNs/CS microspheres is fast and sustained at pH 5.0 (89.56 ± 0.97 %) compared to that at pH 7.4 (57.88 ± 0.91 %) in 96 h, and it is Fickian diffusion controlled. In conclusion, the MSNs/CS microspheres prepared in this study could be potential carriers for 5-Fu delivery.
