Degradable glycyrrhetinic acid functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles enhanced liver cancer therapy

The study aimed to design a drug delivery system (DDS) with smart responsiveness in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Herein, manganese-doped mesoporous silica nanoparticles with glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) on their surface (MMSN-GA) were constructed to form a liver-targeted nanocarrier system, which achieved pH/GSH responsive drug release in TME and killed liver cancer cells through the combination of chemotherapy and chemodynamic therapy. The nanocarriers had the advantages of uniform particle size, considerable drug loading efficiency (26.26%), and superior pH/GSH dependency. MMSN-GA exhibited cytocompatibility with HepG-2 cells and high cellular uptake according to MTT and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) results. Moreover, MMSN-GA@DOX demonstrated excellent antitumor therapeutic effects, and the tumor inhibition rate was 92.32% in tumor-bearing mice. Overall, the MMSN-GA@DOX represents a promising approach for tumor-targeted therapy.