Redox responsive functionalised mesoporous silica nanoparticle for targeted drug delivery of doxorubicin

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been studied for the delivery of anticancer drugs because of their unique mesoporous channels. In this study, Biotin was used as a targeting moiety of MSNs for the purpose of breast cancer cell targeting, and then, Gelatine grafting onto the surface of MSNs was carried out using glutaraldehyde-mediated cross-linking as a capping layer. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Zeta potential change, infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), nitrogen adsorption and desorption (BET), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used for the characterisation of size, morphology and other features related to the fabricated nanoparticles (NPs). The gelatine/biotin coated MSNs (MSN@Bio-Gel) were loaded with Doxorubicin (DOX), followed by assessing its drug loading and release behaviour. In vitro experiments were carried out for exploring the antitumor effect of DOX-MSN@Bio-Gel. The size of NPs prepared in this study was in the range of 178-286 nm. The MTT assay showed suitable anticancer activity of the NPs.Confocal microscopy showed that gelatine-coated, biotin-targeted MSNs had higher cell uptake into MCF-7 cancer cells.