Hydroxylated fullerene-capped, vinblastine-loaded folic acid-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles for targeted anticancer therapy

A novel cancer-targeting drug delivery system is constructed and characterized, based on folic acid-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles with pore-loaded anticancer drug vinblastine and pore-blocking fullerenol molecules. The selective treatment efficacy based on targeting of cancer-overexpressed folate receptors is demonstrated by comparison of cell viability upon the treatment of healthy MRC-5, breast cancer MCF-7 and cervical cancer HeLa cells, which are known to differ in the amount of folate receptors on their surfaces.