pH- and temperature-responsive radially porous silica nanoparticles with high-capacity drug loading for controlled drug delivery

The design of smart and functional nanocarriers for drug delivery systems that use a variety of organic and inorganic materials has led to the development of nanomedicines with improved therapeutic efficiency and reduced side effects. In this study, a pH- and temperature-responsive, controlled-release system with a high capacity for drug loading was developed based on radially porous silica nanoparticles composed of functionalized ligands and polymer encapsulation. This drug delivery system uses radially oriented mesoporous silica nanoparticles as the drug carrier, and control of the surface chemistry of those nanocarriers allows high-capacity loading efficiency of target drugs and stimuli-responsive release kinetics governed by pH and temperature. The delivery of ibuprofen was chosen to test this system, and a maximum loading efficiency of ca. 270 wt% was established, which was 3 times greater than that in previous studies for silica nanoparticles such as SBA-15, MCA-41, and MCM-48. In addition, the pH- and temperature-responsive release of ibuprofen was achieved when the surface of the nanocarriers was treated by pH-responsive amine functionalization and a temperature-responsive surface coating of agarose gel. Finally, cytotoxicity testing using the fibroblast cells showed that the developed silica nanocarriers have no toxicity on the cells, which should allow these nanocarriers to be applied as a nanomedicine in drug delivery systems.