title: Packaging biological cargoes in mesoporous materials: opportunities for drug delivery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Confinement of biomolecules in structured nanoporous materials offers several desirable features ranging from chemical and thermal stability, to resistance to degradation from the external environment. A new generation of mesoporous materials presents exciting new possibilities for the formulation and controlled release of biological agents. Such materials address niche applications in enteral and parenteral delivery of biologics, such as peptides, polypeptides, enzymes and proteins for use as therapeutics, imaging agents, biosensors, and adjuvants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mesoporous silica Santa Barbara Amorphous-15 (SBA-15), with its unique, tunable pore diameter, and easily functionalized surface, provides a representative example of this new generation of materials. Here, we review recent advances in the design and synthesis of nanostructured mesoporous materials, focusing on SBA-15, and highlight opportunities for the delivery of biological agents to various organ and tissue compartments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SBA-15 platform provides a delivery carrier that is inherently separated from the active biologic due to distinct intra and extra-particle environments. This permits the SBA-15 platform to not require direct modification of the active biological therapeutic. Additionally, this makes the platform universal and allows for its application independent of the desired methods of discovery and development. The SBA-15 platform also directly addresses issues of targeted delivery and controlled release, although future challenges in the implementation of this platform reside in particle design, biocompatibility, and the tunability of the internal and external material properties. Examples illustrating the flexibility in the application of the SBA-15 platform are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: University College London, Department of Chemical Engineering and EPSRC Frontier Engineering Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering , Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE , UK.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siefker
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Karande
authors.forename: Marc-Olivier
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Coppens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004349:Drug Packaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C509968:MCM-41; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; C509969:SBA-15; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: MCM-41; SBA-15; compartmentalization; confinement; controlled release; drug delivery; extra-particle effects; intra-particle effects; mesoporous silica; nanoparticle therapeutics; protein therapeutics; targeted delivery