Trends in Degradable Mesoporous Organosilica-Based Nanomaterials for Controlling Drug Delivery: A Mini Review

Abstract

The last few years of enhancing the design of hybrid mesoporous organosilica nanoparticleshas allowed their degradation under specific pathologic conditions, which finally is showing a lightin their potential use as drug delivery systems towards clinical trials. Nevertheless, the issueof controlling the degradation on-demand at cellular level still remains a major challenge, even if ithas lately been addressed through the incorporation of degradable organo-bridged alkoxysilanesinto the silica framework. On this basis, this mini review covers some of the most recent examplesof dierent degradable organosilica nanomaterials with potential application in nanomedicine,from degradable non-porous to mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (MONs), functionalized withresponsive molecular gates, and also the very promising degradable periodic mesoporous organosilicamaterials (PMOs) only consisting of organosilica bridges.