Issue 12, 2019

Hybrid mesoporous nanorods with deeply grooved lateral faces toward cytosolic drug delivery

Abstract

Nanocarriers with high local curvatures hold a great potential of inducing effective penetration of intracellular barriers and cytosolic delivery of membrane-impermeable drugs. However, the fine control of the sharp edges and their morphological effects inside cells remains largely unexplored. Herein, a nanocarrier system of hybrid mesoporous nanorods with six-arm star-shaped end faces and groove-patterned lateral faces was developed to maximize surface regions with high local curvatures for enhancing membrane destabilization. Specifically, twisted (right-handed) nanorods (TNR, diameter ∼120, aspect ratio 4–5) with a hexagon cross-section from a templated synthesis were modified by amino groups to promote surface coating of a wet-adhesive polymer, i.e. polydopamine (PDA). An edge-preferential deposition of PDA by local curvature effects led to the protective etching of silica, and in turn, the formation of nanorods with varying groove depths at different volumes of the aqueous coating solution. Finally, branched polyethylene imine (PEI) was grafted on the exterior surface of the nanorods for enhancing the dispersity and cellular uptake rate. As verified by elaborate in vitro investigations, the configuration of nanorods with the sharpest edges/deepest grooves can be rotated to a lying-down/upright mode in order to minimize/maximize the membrane tension during the interaction with membranes, which consequently resulted in highly efficient lysosomal escape despite the relatively lower uptake degree. The successful delivery of vorinostat (SAHA, a FDA-approved histone deacetylase inhibitor) and inhibition of cancer cells demonstrated the attractive ability of the nanocarriers in drug delivery.

Graphical abstract: Hybrid mesoporous nanorods with deeply grooved lateral faces toward cytosolic drug delivery

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Aug 2019
Accepted
06 Oct 2019
First published
08 Oct 2019

Biomater. Sci., 2019,7, 5301-5311

Hybrid mesoporous nanorods with deeply grooved lateral faces toward cytosolic drug delivery

K. Sun, T. Ding, Y. Xing, D. Mo, J. Zhang and J. M. Rosenholm, Biomater. Sci., 2019, 7, 5301 DOI: 10.1039/C9BM01251F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements