Department of Biophysics, Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science, P.J. Šafárik University in Košice, Jesenná 5, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia.
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, Moyzesova 11, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia.
Int J Pharm. 2023 Aug 25;643:123288. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123288. Epub 2023 Jul 31.
Nanoporous silica is nowadays used in various fields of nano- and micro-materials research. The advantage of nanoporous material is that it can be filled with various hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules, which are then delivered to the target cells and tissues. In the present study, we have studied the interaction of nanoporous silica with hydrophobic and photodynamically active molecule - hypericin. Hypericin was adsorbed on/in SBA-15 silica, which led to the disappearance of its fluorescence due to hypericin aggregate formation. However, it was observed here that hypericin can be easily redistributed from these particles towards proteins and lipids in serum and cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the charged surface character of SBA-15 pores forced the creation of protein/lipid corona on particles. Such complex enabled monomerization of hypericin on the surface of particles presented by fluorescence in the corona and singlet oxygen production suitable for photodynamic therapy (PDT). The PDT efficacy achieved by introducing the new construct into the PDT protocol was comparable to the efficacy of hypericin PDT. In conclusion, this study demonstrates a promising approach for the delivery of hydrophobic photosensitizers to cancer cells by nanoporous silica using fluorescence techniques.
纳米孔硅材料如今被广泛应用于纳米和微材料研究的各个领域。这种纳米孔材料的优势在于它可以填充各种亲水性和疏水性分子，随后将这些分子递送到靶细胞和组织中。在本研究中，我们研究了纳米孔硅材料与疏水分子和光动力活性分子——金丝桃素的相互作用。金丝桃素被吸附在 SBA-15 硅上，导致其荧光消失，这是由于金丝桃素聚集形成的。然而，我们在这里观察到，金丝桃素可以很容易地从这些颗粒重新分配到血清和细胞中的蛋白质和脂质中，无论是在体外还是体内。此外，SBA-15 孔的带电表面特性迫使颗粒表面形成蛋白质/脂质的“电子云”。这种复合物使得在粒子表面上的金丝桃素发生单体化，从而产生适合光动力疗法（PDT）的单线态氧。通过将新构建体引入 PDT 方案中，实现的 PDT 疗效可与金丝桃素 PDT 的疗效相媲美。总之，这项研究通过荧光技术展示了一种使用纳米孔硅材料将疏水性光敏剂递送到癌细胞的有前途的方法。
