Advances in Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as Carriers for Drug Delivery and other Biomedical Applications

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are significant porous materials that have gained increasing interest for biomedical applications due to their appealing physicochemical properties and advantageous morphology. Their tailored mesoporous structure and porosity, thermal stability, high surface area, and framework composition make them an attractive drug delivery platform for treating a range of diseases, offering significant advantages over traditional drug nanocarriers. A variety of small molecules and macromolecules, including proteins, DNA, RNA, genes, and antigens, have been successfully loaded into engineered MSNs-based systems. The chemical flexibility of MSNs was exploited to impart new functionality to these nanoparticles, with the objective of enhancing the loading of bioactive substances and their controlled and targeted release, as well as improving their biocompatibility and bioavailability. These developments have resulted in the creation of smart carriers, such as stimuli-reactive drug delivery systems, which demonstrate remarkable performance in both in vivo and in vitro environments. This review provides an overview of the different types of MSNs and the synthesis methods used for their fabrication. The main drug loading approaches will be discussed, with an emphasis on the recent developments in stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems that can specifically respond to physical and chemical changes in their environment. Additionally, current ongoing research and future trends in biomedical applications of MSNs, including tissue engineering, imaging, biosensing, and theragnostic will be highlighted.