Fucoidan-coated core-shell magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles for chemotherapy and magnetic hyperthermia-based thermal therapy applications

Core-shell based, bioactive marine biopolymer-coated drug carriers for high drug loading and efficient drug release response to a specific trigger have received much research interest in cancer therapy. In this study, we present a fucoidan-coated core-shell magnetic mesoporous silica drug carrier (FeNP@SiOH@Fuc NPs) system which consists of a magnetic iron oxide (FeNP) core, a mesoporous silica shell (SiOH), and a marine biopolymer, namely fucoidan (Fuc), coated onto the outer surface as a gatekeeper for pH-responsive drug delivery and magnetic hyperthermia applications. Fucoidan coating onto the outer surface of the silica nanoparticles was performed through metal-ligand complex coordination approaches. The drug loaded FeNP@SiOH@Fuc/Dox NPs show good drug retention efficiency under physiological pH conditions and show a pH-responsive drug release behavior under an acidic pH environment and hyperthermia temperature (45 degrees C) conditions in the presence of an alternating magnetic field (AMF). Furthermore, the MTT assay and the intracellular uptake study results indicate that the synthesized FeNP@SiOH@Fuc NPs have biocompatibility and could be efficiently internalized by MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, owing to the presence of a magnetic iron oxide core, the FeNP@SiOH@Fuc NPs show an excellent magnetic hyperthermia heating efficiency in the presence of an AMF and reach the hyperthermia temperature (45 degrees C) within a very short time (approximately similar to 4-5 min). Since the FeNP@SiOH@Fuc NP system exhibits pH-stimuli responsive drug release performance, good biocompatibility, and efficient magnetic hyperthermia heating efficiency, the proposed system is expected to be a promising candidate as a drug carrier as well as a hyperthermia agent for chemotherapy and magnetic hyperthermia-based thermal therapy applications in emerging cancer therapy.