Surfactant-assisted controlled release of hydrophobic drugs using anionic surfactant templated mesoporous silica nanoparticles

A series of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were synthesized using the co-structure directing method. A non-cytotoxic anionic surfactant, undec-1-en-11-yltetra(ethylene glycol) phosphate monoester surfactant (PMES), was used as a structure directing agent (SDA) together with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane that functioned as a co-structure directing agent (CSDA). The morphology and mesoporous structure of these materials were tuned by changing the molar ratio of CSDA and SDA. These mesoporous nanomaterials containing PMES inside the pores showed excellent biocompatibility in vitro. The cellular internalization and endosome escape of PMES–MSNs in cervical cancer cells (HeLa) was demonstrated by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, respectively. The PMES–MSNs were used as drug delivery carriers for resveratrol, a low water solubility drug, by taking advantage of the hydrophobic environment created by the PMES micelle inside the pores. This surfactant-assisted delivery strategy was tested under physiological conditions showing an increase of the drug loading compared to the material without surfactant and steady release of resveratrol. Finally, the therapeutic properties of resveratrol-loaded PMES–MSNs were evaluated in vitro using HeLa and Chinese hamster ovarian cells. We envision that this surfactant-assisted drug delivery method using MSNs as nanovehicles would lead to a new generation of carrier materials for intracellular delivery of a variety of hydrophobic therapeutic agents.