Poly(amidoamine)-modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a mucoadhesive drug delivery system for potential bladder cancer therapy

Bladder cancer, with the highest recurrence rate in all malignancy, is a common urologic cancer that arises on the bladder mucosa. Currently, tumor resection followed by intravesical chemotherapy is the primary treatment of bladder cancer, which has limited effectiveness ascribe to short dwell-time of intravesical drugs in bladder. Therefore, there is a need to develop mucoadhesive and sustained drug delivery systems to increase drug residence time for intravesical chemotherapy. In this study, poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers were modified onto the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) through a layer-by-layer grafting method. A series of PAMAM-modified MSNPs were prepared and compared for their mucoadhesive capabilities on pig bladder wall and controlled drug release properties. Results demonstrated an increase in the mucoadhesive capacity of PAMAM-modified MSNPs upon an increase in the number of PAMAM amino groups, and the maximum nanoparticle mucoadhesivity was observed after two-generation PAMAM were grafted on the surface of MSNPs. An antineoplastic, doxorubicin, was encapsulated in the mesopores of PAMAM-modified MSNPs, and the drug-loaded nanoparticles can provide a sustained drug release triggered by acidic pH. The present study demonstrates that the mucoadhesive and drug release properties of MSNPs can be controlled by the layer number of PAMAM dendrimers on the nanoparticle surface, holding significant potential for the development of mucoadhesive drug delivery systems for bladder cancer therapy.