Silica based nanoparticles

Liang S, John CL, Xu S et al (2010) Silica-based nanoparticles design and properties. In Demchenko AP (ed) Advanced fluorescence reporters in chemistry and biology. II. Springer Ser Fluoresc 9 229-251... 

Silica-based nanoparticles Incorporation of a hydrophobic anticancer drug into the pores of fluorescent mesoporous sihca nanoparticles For dehvery of camptothecin and other water-insoluble drugs into human cancer cells 30... 

Silica Based Nanoparticles as Controlled Drug Release Systems... 

Endocytosis is essential for uptake of macromolecules and nanoparticles. Thereby, the physical and chemical characteristics of the cargo and transporter complex determine the nature of the cell uptake mechanism. Particles larger than 500 nm are typically phagocytosed or macropinocytosed, whereas smaller hydrophilic molecules are internalized by any of the various endocytotic processes [2,8]. Often, nanometersized transporter molecules or particles accomplish cell uptake simultaneously by several endocytotic mechanisms [9]. Clathrin-dependent endocytosis is the most widely understood pathway, which is present in nearly aU mammalian cells. The clathrin pathway is considered the most important uptake mechanism for several polymers such as poly(ethylene glycol)-polylactides, poly(lactide-c )-glycolide) (PLGA), silica-based nanoparticles, and chitosan nanoparticles [8, 10-12]. 

A variety of luminescent nanoparticles have been specifically devised for con-focal and multiphoton microscopy. These include nanomaterials, such as silica-based nanoparticles doped with two-photon-absorbing fluorophores, able to exhibit aggregation-enhanced fluorescence, gold nanoparticles, semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots/rods), and nanophosphors, viz., ceramic nanoparticles containing luminescent lanthanide ions. 

Early non-viral techniques involved the direct injection of naked DNA through the use of electrical impulses (electroporation), or bombardment with gold particles (gene gun), to force them across cellular membranes. However, these methods were inefficient, localized, and scarcely versatile. Non-viral carriers were developed using cationic lipids, polymers, carbon nanotubes, metal nanorods, and ceramic- and silica-based nanoparticles (Nishikawa Huang, 2001 Roy et al., 2003, 2005, 2008 Mintzer Simanek, 2009). 

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