Mesenchymal stem cell-based cell engineering with multifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticles for tumor delivery

Stem cell engineering, the manipulation and control of cells, harnesses tremendous potential for diagnosis and therapy of disease; however, it is still challenging to impart multifunctionalization onto stem cells to achieve both. Here we describe a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based multifunctional platform to target orthotopic glioblastoma by integrating the tumor targeted delivery of mesenchymal stem cells and the multimodal imaging advantage of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). Rapid cellular uptake, long retention time and stability of particles exemplify the potential that the combination of MSNs and MSCs has as a stem cell-based multifunctional platform. Using such a platform, we verified tumor-targeted delivery of MSCs by in vivo multimodal imaging in an orthotopic U87MG glioblastoma model, displaying higher tumor uptake than particles without MSCs. As a proof-of-concept, this MSC platform opens a new vision for multifunctional applications of cell products by combining the superiority of stem cells and nanoparticles for actively targeted delivery.