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Nano Research 2017, 10(5): 1651-1661 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1377-2
Research Article | Issue | Published: 27 December 2016

A pH-switched mesoporous nanoreactor for synergetic therapy

Show Author's Information Zhengqing Yan1,2,  Andong Zhao1,2,  Xinping Liu1,2,  Jinsong Ren1,  Xiaogang Qu1( )
Laboratory of Chemical Biology and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of SciencesChangchun 130022 China
University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing 100039 China
Keywords:
controllable release, zinc oxide, fluorescent imaging, mesoporous nanoreactor, non-specific degradation
Cite this article:
Yan Z, Zhao A, Liu X, et al. A pH-switched mesoporous nanoreactor for synergetic therapy. Nano Research, 2017, 10(5): 1651-1661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1377-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), as a new type of pH-sensitive drug carrier, have received much attention. ZnO NPs are stable at physiological pH, but can dissolve quickly in the acidic tumor environment (pH < 6) to generate cytotoxic zinc ions and reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the protein corona usually causes the non-specific degradation of ZnO NPs, which has limited their application considerably. Herein, a new type of pH-sensitive nanoreactor (ZnO-DOX@F-mSiO2-FA), aimed at reducing the non-specific degradation of ZnO NPs, is presented. In the acidic tumor environment (pH < 6), it can release cytotoxic zinc ions, ROS, and anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells effectively. In addition, the fluorescence emitted from fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled mesoporous silica (F-mSiO2) and doxorubicin (DOX) can be used to monitor the release behavior of the anticancer drug. This report provides a new method to avoid the non-specific degradation of ZnO NPs, resulting in synergetic therapy by taking advantage of ZnO NPs-induced oxidative stress and targeted drug release.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

A pH-switched mesoporous nanoreactor for synergetic therapy

Show Author's information Zhengqing Yan1,2, Andong Zhao1,2, Xinping Liu1,2, Jinsong Ren1, Xiaogang Qu1( )
Laboratory of Chemical Biology and State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of SciencesChangchun 130022 China
University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing 100039 China

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), as a new type of pH-sensitive drug carrier, have received much attention. ZnO NPs are stable at physiological pH, but can dissolve quickly in the acidic tumor environment (pH < 6) to generate cytotoxic zinc ions and reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the protein corona usually causes the non-specific degradation of ZnO NPs, which has limited their application considerably. Herein, a new type of pH-sensitive nanoreactor (ZnO-DOX@F-mSiO2-FA), aimed at reducing the non-specific degradation of ZnO NPs, is presented. In the acidic tumor environment (pH < 6), it can release cytotoxic zinc ions, ROS, and anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells effectively. In addition, the fluorescence emitted from fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled mesoporous silica (F-mSiO2) and doxorubicin (DOX) can be used to monitor the release behavior of the anticancer drug. This report provides a new method to avoid the non-specific degradation of ZnO NPs, resulting in synergetic therapy by taking advantage of ZnO NPs-induced oxidative stress and targeted drug release.

Keywords: controllable release, zinc oxide, fluorescent imaging, mesoporous nanoreactor, non-specific degradation

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 09 September 2016
Revised: 08 November 2016
Accepted: 15 November 2016
Published: 27 December 2016
Issue date: May 2017

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2012CB720602) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21210002, 21431007, and 21533008).

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