Biphasic synthesis of biodegradable urchin-like mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles for enhanced cellular internalization and precision cascaded therapy

Abstract

It is widely accepted that a small particle size and rough surface can enhance tumor tissue accumulation and tumor cellular uptake of nanoparticles, respectively. Herein, sub-50 nm urchin-inspired disulfide bond-bridged mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (UMONs) featured with a spiky surface and glutathione (GSH)-responsive biodegradability were successfully synthesized by a facile one-pot biphasic synthesis strategy for enhanced cellular internalization and tumor accumulation. L-Arginine (LA) is encapsulated into the mesopores of UMONs, whose outer surface is capped with the gatekeeper of ultrasmall gold nanoparticles, i.e., UMONs–LA–Au. On the one hand, the mild acidity-activated uncapping of ultrasmall gold can realize a tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive release of LA. On the other hand, the unique natural glucose oxidase (GOx)-mimicking catalytic activity of ultrasmall gold can catalyze the decomposition of intratumoral glucose to produce acidic hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and gluconic acid. Remarkably, these products can not only further facilitate the release of LA, but also catalyze the LA–H₂O₂ reaction for an increased nitric oxide (NO) yield, which realizes synergistic catalysis-enhanced NO gas therapy for tumor eradication. The judiciously fabricated UMONs–LA–Au present a paradigm of TME-responsive nanoplatforms for both enhanced cellular uptake and tumor-specific precision cascaded therapy, which broadens the range of practical biomedical applications and holds a significant promise for the clinical translation of silica-based nanotheranostics.