Polydopamine/keratin complexes as gatekeepers of mesoporous silica nanoparticles for pH and GSH dual responsive drug delivery

Abstract Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have attracted considerable attention for drug delivery due to their tunable pore sizes and morphologies, excellent biocompatibility, and ideal sites to bind other chemical groups. In this study, MSNs were first coated with polydopamine (PDA) by mussel-inspired polymerization and then conjugated with keratin via iron(III)-mediated coordination chemistry. The doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded MSNs(MSNs-DOX@PDA@keratin) exhibited pH and glutathione (GSH) dual-responsive drug release behavior as well as higher toxicity against tumor cells with lower toxicity on normal cells. These drug carriers could be uptaken by the tumor cells through endocytosis, having great potential in drug delivery applications.