Preparation and Characterization of Methylene Blue-Incorporated Folate-Functionalized Fe3O4/Mesoporous Silica Core/Shell Magnetic Nanoparticles.

In the present work, a multifunctional nanomaterial, methylene blue-incorporated folate-functionalized Fe3O4/mesoporous silica core/shell magnetic nanoparticles, has been developed. Firstly, highly biocompatible monodisperse superparamagnetic Fe3O4@mSiO2 core/shell nanoparticles with mesoporous silica shells were synthesized. Then these particles were coated with the covalently bonded biocompatible polymer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and modified with the cancer targeting ligand folic acid (FA). Finally, the water-soluble photosensitizer methylene blue (MB) was loaded into the mesoporous silica shell. Systematic experiments were performed to carefully evaluate the physical and chemical properties, cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of the multifunctional nanomaterial.