Amino Acid-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres as efficient biocompatible drug carriers for anticancer applications

Herein, a series of new amino acid-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica nanospheres (HMSNs) by post-grafting methods were prepared. These new materials were characterized by different techniques and were studied as matrices for the antineoplastic drug (cisplatin) transport and delivery. The results demonstrate that the surface functionalization of the carriers has a remarkable positive influence on the loading efficiency and release rate of cisplatin. The highest drug entrapment efficiency and the most optimal release properties were observed when the (2-(butylamino) ethyl) glycine groups are grafted on the HMSNs surface (AFS-2-HMSNs sample). Moreover, the in vitro cytotoxic effect of both empty and cisplatin-loaded AFS-2-HMSNs sample (CDDP@AFS-2-HMSNs) on MCF-7 cells (human breast adenocarcinoma cell line) and HepG2 cells (human liver carcinoma cell line) were evaluated by MTT assay. The most important outcome is that the empty carrier revealed no cytotoxicity to cancer cells. However, CDDP@AFS-2-HMSNs caused a notable inhibition of cell viability which was affected from the dose and time. Our results demonstrate that the synthesized materials could be used as carriers for drug delivery with controlled release applications.