Polymer-Brush-Grafted Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Triggered Drug Delivery

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been demonstrated to be one of the most promising drug-delivery systems (DDSs) to transport a variety of drugs/biomolecules. Functionalization of MSN surfaces with responsive polymer brushes leads to intelligent and controllable drug-delivery properties, that is, the encapsulated drugs/biomolecules will only be released upon certain stimuli including pH, temperature, light, enzyme, ultrasound, or redox, thus maximizing their therapeutic efficiency and minimizing side effects. These polymer brushes can also increase the stability and extend the release period of the loaded cargoes. This Minireview presents an overview of recent research progress on stimuli-responsive controlled DDSs based on polymer-brush-grafted MSNs. Utilizing the switching abilities of the grafted responsive polymer brushes, the smart DDSs show great potential for biomedical applications, especially for cancer therapy.