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Chondroitin sulfate functionalized mesostructured silica nanoparticles as biocompatible carriers for drug delivery

Authors Juqun X, Jin Qin, Fan L

Received 23 May 2012

Accepted for publication 20 July 2012

Published 9 October 2012 Volume 2012:7 Pages 5235—5247

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S34128

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Juqun Xi,1 Jin Qin,2 Lei Fan2

1Department of Pharmacology, Yangzhou University Medical Academy, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China; 2School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China

Abstract: Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have garnered a great deal of attention as potential carriers for therapeutic payloads. Here, we report a pH-responsive drug-carrier based on chondroitin sulfate functionalized mesostructured silica nanoparticles (NMChS-MSNs) ie, the amidation between NMChS macromer and amino group functionalized MSNs. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using dynamic light scattering, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The resultant NMChS-MSNs were uniform spherical nanoparticles with a mean diameter of approximately 74 nm. Due to the covalent graft of hydrophilic and pH responsive NMChS, the NMChS-MSNs could be well dispersed in aqueous solution, which is favorable to being utilized as drug carriers to construct a pH-responsive controlled drug delivery system. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), a well-known anticancer drug, could be effectively loaded into the channels of NMChS-MSNs through electrostatic interactions between drug and matrix. The drug release rate of DOX@NMChS-MSNs was pH dependent and increased with the decrease of pH. The in vitro cytotoxicity test indicated that NMChS-MSNs were highly biocompatible and suitable to use as drug carriers. Our results imply that chondroitin sulfate functionalized nanoparticles are promising platforms to construct the pH-responsive controlled drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.

Keywords: mesoporous silica nanoparticle, pH sensitive, chondroitin sulfate, drug delivery

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