title: Silicon particles as trojan horses for potential cancer therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Porous silicon particles (PSiPs) have been used extensively as drug delivery systems, loaded with chemical species for disease treatment. It is well known from silicon producers that silicon is characterized by a low reduction potential, which in the case of PSiPs promotes explosive oxidation reactions with energy yields exceeding that of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The functionalization of the silica layer with sugars prevents its solubilization, while further functionalization with an appropriate antibody enables increased bioaccumulation inside selected cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We present here an immunotherapy approach for potential cancer treatment. Our platform comprises the use of engineered silicon particles conjugated with a selective antibody. The conceptual advantage of our system is that after reaction, the particles are degraded into soluble and excretable biocomponents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, we demonstrate in particular, specific targeting and destruction of cancer cells in vitro. The fact that the LD50 value of PSiPs-HER-2 for tumor cells was 15-fold lower than the LD50 value for control cells demonstrates very high in vitro specificity. This is the first important step on a long road towards the design and development of novel chemotherapeutic agents against cancer in general, and breast cancer in particular.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Tecnologías Físicas, Unidad Asociada ICMM/CSIC-UPV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Av. Los Naranjos s/n, Valencia, 46022 Spain and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, Madrid, 28049, Spain. rfenollo@ter.upv.es.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fenollosa
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Oncología, Hospital Universitario Madrid-Torrelodones, Madrid, 28250, Spain. egarciarico@fundacionhm.com.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcia-Rico
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, 36310, Spain. sar@uvigo.es.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, 36310, Spain. rar@uvigo.es.
authors.forename: Rosana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Philipps Universität Marburg, Marburg, 35037, Germany. yu.xiang@physik.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Centro de Tecnologías Físicas, Unidad Asociada ICMM/CSIC-UPV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Av. Los Naranjos s/n, Valencia, 46022 Spain and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, Madrid, 28049, Spain. mirodrig@upvnet.upv.es.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Philipps Universität Marburg, Marburg, 35037, Germany. bureau118@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carregal-Romero
authors.affiliation: Medcomtech SA, C/ Catalunya, 83-85 Viladecans, Barcelona, 08840, Spain. cvillanueva@medcomtech.es.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Física e Inorgánica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Centro de Tecnología Química de Catalunya, Carrer de Marcel•lí Domingo s/n, 43007, Tarragona, Spain. manuel.garcia.algar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia-Algar
authors.affiliation: Medcomtech SA, C/ Catalunya, 83-85 Viladecans, Barcelona, 08840, Spain. pilar.riveragil@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rivera-Gil
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, 36310, Spain. qolera@uvigo.es.
authors.forename: Angel R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: de Lera
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Philipps Universität Marburg, Marburg, 35037, Germany. wolfgang.parak@physik.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: Wolfgang J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Parak
authors.affiliation: Centro de Tecnologías Físicas, Unidad Asociada ICMM/CSIC-UPV, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Av. Los Naranjos s/n, Valencia, 46022 Spain and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, Madrid, 28049, Spain. fmese@fis.upv.es.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meseguer
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Física e Inorgánica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili and Centro de Tecnología Química de Catalunya, Carrer de Marcel•lí Domingo s/n, 43007, Tarragona, Spain. ramon.alvarez@urv.cat.|ICREA, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain. ramon.alvarez@urv.cat.
authors.forename: Ramón A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Puebla
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor / Q000187:drug effects; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D012825:Silicon / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D012825:Silicon; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human