Lipid bilayer-coated curcumin-based mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles for cellular delivery

• PMO nanoparticles with curcumin incorporated into the framework were synthesized.
• Nanoparticles have strikingly high organic wall content of almost 50 wt%.
• They are highly porous, stable in SBF and show significant autofluorescence.
• Cellular delivery of Rhodamine B as model cargo was achieved.

Effective and controlled drug delivery systems with on-demand release abilities and biocompatible properties receive enormous attention for biomedical applications. Here, we describe a novel inorganic–organic hybrid material with a strikingly high organic content of almost 50 wt%. The colloidal periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles synthesized in this work consist entirely of curcumin and ethane derivatives serving as constituents that are crosslinked by siloxane bridges, without any added silica. These mesoporous curcumin nanoparticles (MCNs) exhibit very high surface areas (ca. 1000 m2/g), narrow particle size distribution (around 200 nm) and a strikingly high stability in simulated biological media. Additionally, the MCNs show high autofluorescence and were used as a cargo delivery system in live-cell experiments. A supported lipid bilayer (SLB) efficiently seals the pores and releases Rhodamin B as model cargo in HeLa cells. This novel nanocarrier concept provides a promising platform for the development of controllable and highly biocompatible theranostic systems.

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