Carriers for Hydrophobic Drug Molecules: Lipid-Coated Hollow Mesoporous Silica Particles, and the Influence of Shape and Size on Encapsulation Efficiency

Hydrophobic drugs, while designed to interact with specific receptors or enzymes located in lipid-rich cell membranes, often face challenges of limited bioavailability and insufficient circulation time due to their insolubility in aqueous environments. One plausible pathway to increase their blood circulation time is to load these drugs into biocompatible and hydrophilic carriers to enhance their uptake. In this study, mesoporous silica (mSiO