Since their discovery in 19911, Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) have been widely used in catalysis chemistry. But recently, due to their numerous properties, they started to be investigated in biomedical applications. Indeed, MSNPs present the advantages of low toxicity and biocompatibility. Another advantage of this material regards its versatility, which is indeed related to the possibility to tune the particle size and shape, considerably increasing the adaptability of the material to specific applications, from drug delivery to imaging. Adding to that, both the inner and the outer surface of this nanoparticle can be orthogonally functionalized, enabling the possibility to load guest molecules or proteins.
Because of all these properties, MSNPs have attracted a great attention in nanomedicine, which is a part of medicine which includes the use of submicrometer-sized tools for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases, for better understanding the complex underlying pathophysiology of diseases, and for improving the quality of life of patients.2,3,4 Thus many in vitro studies have been investigated about the MSNPs, and recently, in vivo investigations have been led since the oral administration of such nanoparticles have been approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).5
But a lot of concern is still alive for the intraveneous administration of MSNPs, which might lead, in case of inefficient biodegradability, to accumulation phenomena and thus inefficient excretion, impeding clinical translation. In this way, we are working on stimuli-responsive hybrid organic/inorganic mesoporous silica nanoparticles, which are endowed with a unique biodegradability. This novel material represents a strong candidate to bridge the gap between the potential of MSNPs as nanomedical tool, and their actual implementation in routine medical treatments.
References
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3. Lammers, T.; Kiessling, F.; Hennink, W. E.; Storm, G.; Mol. Pharm. ,2010, 7, 1899−1912. DOI: 10.1021/mp100228v
4. Rosenholm, J. M.; Sahlgren, C.; Lindén, M.; Curr. Drug Target, 2011, 12, 1166−1186. DOI: 10.2174/138945011795906624
5. Fangqiong, T.; Linlin L.; Dong C.; Adv. Mater., 2012, 24, 1504–1534. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201104763