Dual-Responsive Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Mediated Codelivery of Doxorubicin and Bcl-2 SiRNA for Targeted Treatment of Breast Cancer

The combination of chemotherapy and gene therapy could induce the enhanced therapeutic efficacy in the cancer therapy. To achieve this goal, a new mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs)-based codelivery system was developed for targeted simultaneous delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and Bcl-2 small interfering RNA (siRNA) into breast cancer cells. The multifunctional MSNs (MSNs-PPPFA) were prepared by modification of polyethylenimine–polylysine copolymers (PEI-PLL) via the disulfide bonds, to which a targeting ligand folate-linked poly(ethylene glycol) (FA-PEG) was conjugated. The multifunctional MSNs-PPPFA nanocarrier has the ability to encapsulate DOX into the mesoporous channels of MSNs, while simultaneously carrying siRNA via electrostatic interaction between cationic MSNs-PPPFA and anionic siRNA. The resulting MSNs-PPPFA nanoparticles were characterized with various techniques. The drug release results reveal that DOX released from DOX-loaded MSNs-PPPFA are both pH- and redox-responsive, and the results ...