Effective pH-responsive Hydrazine-Modified Silica for Doxorubicin Delivery

Aims: A type of pH-responsive porous nanosilica (PNS) for doxorubicin (DOX) delivery using Hydrazine was developed

Study Design: PNS was first prepared by a sol-gel method and then modified with Hydrazine via 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) as coupling agents, (PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine) for loading of DOX (DOX/PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine).

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biomaterials & Bioengineering, Institute of Applied Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, between February and June 2016.

Methodology: The obtained PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Moreover, DOX loading and release behavior of PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine were also evaluated.

Results: The PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine was successfully synthesized with spherical shape and diameter range of 45-75 nm, which was a little larger than that of PNS-GPTMS of 35-65 nm. In addition, DOX was effectively encapsulated into PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine nanoparticles, which was approximately 61.6%, and was slowly released up to 96 h in phosphate buffer saline (PBS, pH 7.4). Especially, the modified PNS was found to be rapidly release DOX under acidic environment (PBS, pH 5.5), indicating the pH-responsive property.

Conclusion: These results demonstrated that PNS-GPTMS-Hydrazine can be used as an effective and pH-responsive nanocarriers for DOX delivery.