Aptamer/Graphene Quantum Dots Nanocomposite Capped Fluorescent Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Intracellular Drug Delivery and Real-Time Monitoring of Drug Release

Great challenges in investigating the release of drug in complex cellular microenvironments necessitate the development of stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems with real-time monitoring capability. In this work, a smart drug nanocarrier based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is fabricated by capping graphene quantum dots (GQDs, the acceptor) onto fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles (FMSNs, the donor) via ATP aptamer for real-time monitoring of ATP-triggered drug release. Under extracellular conditions, the fluorescence of FMSNs remains in the off state in the low ATP level which is unable to trigger the release of drug. Once specifically recognized and internalized into the target tumor cells by AS1411 aptamer, in the ATP-rich cytoplasm, the conformation switch of the ATP aptamer causes the shedding of the GQDs from the nanocarriers, leading to the release of the loaded drugs and consequently severe cytotoxicity. Simultaneously, the fluorescence of FMSNs turns on along with the dissociation of GQDs, which allows real-time monitoring of the release of drug from the pores. Such a drug delivery system features high specificity of dual-target recognition with AS1411 and ATP aptamer as well as high sensitivity of the FRET-based monitoring strategy. Thus, the proposed multifunctional ATP triggered FRET-nanocarriers will find potential applications for versatile drug-release monitoring, efficient drug transport, and targeted cancer therapeutics.