A pH-sensitive β-cyclodextrin-modified periodic mesoporous organosilica hybrid nanomaterial for co-delivery of Paclitaxel and curcumin in lung cancer.

In this study, a novel β-cyclodextrin grafted to the 3-aminopropyl linker was prepared and incorporated in the periodic mesoporous organosilica structure to afford β-CD-APTS-PMO via the co-condensation and sequential integration strategy. At first, the obtained β-CD-APTS-PMO hybrid nanomaterial was characterized using various techniques including FESEM, FT-IR and EDS spectroscopy, elemental mapping, XRD, TGA, BET, and zeta potential. Then, the β-CD-APTS-PMO hybrid nanomaterial with a surface area of 284.35 m2 g-1 and an average pore diameter of 4.9 nm was studied to evaluate its in vitro antitumor activity. Paclitaxel (PTX) and curcumin (CUR) were successfully co-encapsulated at a pre-optimized ratio in β-CD-APTS-PMO with high encapsulation efficiency (CUR: 90.2 ± 0.56%, PTX: 87.4 ± 0.12%). The Paclitaxel and curcumin co-loaded β-CD-APTS-PMO demonstrates sustained-release properties in vitro. However, the drug release profile results demonstrated that CUR was released much faster than PTX. The release of CUR in advance would allow effective chemosensitization of cancer cells, which in turn would increase the therapeutic efficacy of PTX. The results of the MTT study indicate that Paclitaxel and curcumin co-loaded β-CD-APTS-PMO had a better anticancer effect than free Paclitaxel or curcumin. These results indicate that β-CD-APTS-PMO is a promising nanocarrier candidate for the lung cancer combination therapy.