Chondroitin sulfate functionalized mesostructured silica nanoparticles as biocompatible carriers for drug delivery

Juqun Xi,¹ Jin Qin,² Lei Fan<sup>2

1</sup>Department of Pharmacology, Yangzhou University Medical Academy, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China; ²School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China

Abstract: Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have garnered a great deal of attention as potential carriers for therapeutic payloads. Here, we report a pH-responsive drug-carrier based on chondroitin sulfate functionalized mesostructured silica nanoparticles (NMChS-MSNs) ie, the amidation between NMChS macromer and amino group functionalized MSNs. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using dynamic light scattering, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The resultant NMChS-MSNs were uniform spherical nanoparticles with a mean diameter of approximately 74 nm. Due to the covalent graft of hydrophilic and pH responsive NMChS, the NMChS-MSNs could be well dispersed in aqueous solution, which is favorable to being utilized as drug carriers to construct a pH-responsive controlled drug delivery system. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), a well-known anticancer drug, could be effectively loaded into the channels of NMChS-MSNs through electrostatic interactions between drug and matrix. The drug release rate of DOX@NMChS-MSNs was pH dependent and increased with the decrease of pH. The in vitro cytotoxicity test indicated that NMChS-MSNs were highly biocompatible and suitable to use as drug carriers. Our results imply that chondroitin sulfate functionalized nanoparticles are promising platforms to construct the pH-responsive controlled drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.

Keywords: mesoporous silica nanoparticle, pH sensitive, chondroitin sulfate, drug delivery

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.