ABSTRACT
The mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) have gained attention in drug delivery due to the range of advantages they offer, for example, control over their morphology, ordered porosity, high surface area, mechanical strength, optical transparency, and plenty of possibilities for surface conjugation, enabling both active and passive targeting. MSNP-based internal stimuli–responsive drug delivery systems are devised on known properties of pathological tissues, such as change in pH, overexpression of enzymes, and glutathione content. Targeting specific receptors by functionalizing the MSNPs improved cellular internalization in HeLa cells. The hybrid nanoconstruct, which showed adequate biocompatibility in vitro, released the collagenase in an acidic pH environment inside tumor tissue and, as a result, the permeation of the MSNPs through 3D-human osteosarcoma-seeded collagen gels increased significantly. The pores in MSNPs can be plugged with various stimuli-responsive materials, mostly polymers, in order to attain target- or tissue-specific drug release.
