Sodium alginate coated mesoporous silica for dual bio-responsive controlled drug delivery

In this work, we fabricated redox and pH dual bio-responsive nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery based on sodium alginate end-capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Sodium alginate coated the surface of nanoparticles by disulfide bonds and acted as a sheddable “gatekeeper” to control doxorubicin (DOX) release. Stimuli-responsive controlled drug release was investigated. At physiological conditions, sodium alginate shell can be shed and modulated the diffusion of loaded DOX in the presence of glutathione (GSH). Moreover, the sodium alginate shell underwent a distinct transition from pH 7.4 to pH 5.0. The dual bio-responsive systems provide an efficient nanocarrier for intracellular targeting drug release.