Design of a Novel Mesoporous Organosilica Hybrid Microcarrier: a pH Stimuli‐Responsive Dual‐Drug‐Delivery Vehicle for Intracellular Delivery of Anticancer Agents

Abstract

The integration of unique functionality into mesoporous organosilica hybrid carriers is an important issue in solving the challenges of dual/multi delivery for combined therapy with drugs with a distinct therapeutic effects. Newly designed mesoporous organosilica hybrid microcarriers (HMCs) are synthesized on the basis of the triblock‐copolymer‐templated sol–gel method. The synthesized HMCs, which integrate both heteroaromatic pyridine and diurea functionalities, are combined in a mesoporous organosilica hybrid network to design functional hybrid microcarriers with a range of mechanisms for the pH‐triggered release of two drugs. The drugs include the hydrophilic anticancer therapeutic agent 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) and the non‐steroidal hydrophobic anti‐inflammatory drug ibuprofen (IBU). 5‐FU and IBU are encapsulated in the HMCs using multiple hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction sites and are delivered under a range of pH conditions. The release of 5‐FU and IBU is tested at pH 5.5 and 7.4. The results show that the release is sensitive to pH. The antitumor activity of the released 5‐FU is evaluated using the MCF‐7 cell line. The released 5‐FU has the capacity to kill cancer cells under acidic pH conditions.