Preparation of melamine-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles for delivery of anticancer drugs

•The surface-grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles attract interest in drug delivery.•Melamine is considered an effective amine group-containing molecule owing to its three amine groups in one molecule.•Controlled drug delivery is a promising approach to achieving the effective dosage of therapeutic agents.•Melamine-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles have been prepared for pH-responsive drug delivery. The surface-grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles attract interest in drug delivery, owing to their high drug loading and controlled release potential to the target sites. In this paper, we propose the synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticles and their surface grafting using melamine groups for pH-responsive release of anticancer drugs. A model anticancer drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) was used to encapsulate into the melamine-grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles (M−MS/5-Fu NPs) using the solvent immersion method. pH and temperature-responsive release behavior of the M−MS/5-Fu NPs were verified at different pH (pH 7.4, 6.5, and 4.0). Further, the in vitro cytotoxicity of the prepared samples was also evaluated on the MCF-7 cell line.