Using mesoporous materials as nanovehicle for improved drug delivery

In a paper to be published in the forthcoming issue in NANO, a group of researchers from Guiyang, China, have conducted a study based on previous experimental research on DOX as a model drug and introduced a reverse method in which organic groups are grafted after removing the template agent. This has potential applications in the drug delivery field for better control drug release.

Mesoporous silica has potential research applications in the field of medicine. The particle size of mesoporous silica can reach the nanoscale, which allows it to withstand thermal and mechanical stresses as well as pH and oxidation degradation with low toxicity and good biocompatibility. Taking advantage of these characteristics, the group of researchers from Guizhou University and Guiyang Vocational and Technical College have improved the drug-loading capacity by adjusting the pore diameter through surface modification to achieve controlled and targeted release of drugs.

Although these organic functional groups can ensure the good adsorption of drugs, such as common model drugs aspirin and DOX, their loading capacity is low and loading takes a long time. To overcome these shortcomings, the number of functional groups were increased to increase the number of activity sites. Based on previous experimental research on DOX as a model drug, following Stober's theory of the synthesis of mesoporous silica in a water-methanol-ammonium hydroxide-TEOS system at different temperatures, mesoporous silica spheres with diameters ranging from 80 to 290 nm were obtained. These showed improved effects of different physical and chemical characteristics on drug loading due to the functionalization of organic groups. 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethylamino]propyl-trimethoxysilane(NQ-62) and succinic anhydride (SA) were utilized as modifying agents in organic functionalization processing, which improved the drug loading, possessing great potential to control drug release.