Toxicity of thiolated silica nanoparticles modified with sulfobetaine methacrylate for potential use in chemotherapy drug conjugation

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) are promising substrates for the delivery of chemotherapy drugs to solid tumours. However, after injection these foreign bodies are often eliminated by the reticulo endothelial system (RES) within seconds or minutes. Previous studies overcome this issue by coating nano-drug carriers with a surfactant which extended the circulatory half-life of NPs and prevented opsonization. In the current study, thiolated silica nanoparticles (SiO2) were synthesized using the Stöber method then coated with low fouling zwitterionc sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA) using thiol-ene addition. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) revealed monodispersed spherical particles with dynamic light sca..