title: pH dictates the release of hydrophobic drug cocktail from mesoporous nanoarchitecture.
abstract: Combination therapy has been a norm in clinical practice to effectively treat cancer. Besides polytherapy, nowadays, smart and nanobased drug carriers are extensively being explored to deliver drugs according to pathophysiological environment of diseases. In this regard, herein we designed intelligent mesoporous architecture, incorporating both combinational therapy with smart nanotechnology, to simultaneously deliver two highly hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drugs in response to extracellular and/or intracellular acidic environ of tumor. Novelty of the system lies in the employment of acid responsive ZnO QDs to clog not only the nanochannels of mesoporous silica, encapsulating one hydrophobic drug, but also exploitation of chelate forming propensity of another hydrophobic drug (curcumin) to load a significant quantity onto the surface of ZnO nanolids. Cell viability results revealed an extraordinarily high cytotoxic efficiency of that lethal drug cocktail even at a concentration as low as 3 μg/mL nanocarrier. We envision that this sophisticated nanocarrier, which utilizes both interior pore and exterior surface of nanolids for loading different hydrophobic guest molecules and their subsequent acid responsive release, will undoubtedly, illustrates its remarkable potential in targeted chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130021, China.
authors.forename: Faheem
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Muhammad
authors.forename: Aifei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mingyi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jianyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wenxiu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yingjie
authors.forename: Jingkai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Guangshan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003474:Curcumin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003603:Cytotoxins; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D003474:Curcumin; D015034:Zinc Oxide