AbstractsChemistry

Anticancer drugs inhibit the cancer growth by killing the rapidly dividing cancer cells. However, anticancer drugs also kill the dividing healthy cells and cause severe damage to healthy tissues. More specific delivery of the cancer drugs to the cancer tissue can increase the drug delivery efficiency and reduce the drug s side effects. Nanocarriers can increase the solubility of poorly-water soluble anticancer drugs and be modified for targeted drug delivery and theranostic applications. For efficient drug delivery, the drug loading capacity has been one of the key issues for the development of nanoparticle (NP)-based drug delivery systems. The biocompatible and biodegradable porous silicon (PSi) nanomaterial presents high drug loading capacity and tunable surface chemistry which renders it an ideal candidate as a drug delivery carrier. Chemical surface modification, which is one of the approaches to improve the nanomaterials properties, can lead to a stable nanosystem for further drug delivery applications. The main aim of this dissertation was to employ chemical approaches and surface modified PSi nanoparticles (NPs) to improve the drug delivery efficiency for potential cancer therapy applications. Incorporating targeting moieties to the surfaces of the nanocarriers, such as targeting peptides, can increase the nanocarrier s accumulation into the cancer tissue after the intravenous administration. In this thesis, surface modification of amine-terminated PSi NPs was achieved with targeting peptides (RGDS and iRGD) via strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition click reaction. The functionalization of the PSi NPs with the targeting peptides did not comprise the drug loading capacity, but enhanced the cellular uptake and the drug delivery efficacy of the PSi NPs in vitro. In addition to the targeting NP surface modifications, a multifunctional nanosystem was prepared with simultaneous fluorescence- and radio-labeling, and iRGD surface modification of the carboxylic acid-terminated PSi NPs. Both labelings were accessible for the in vivo biodistribution evaluation in mice by single-photon emission computed tomography and X-ray computed tomography, and ex vivo by immunofluorescence staining, respectively. The iRGD modification enhanced the tumor uptake of the PSi NPs after the intravenous administration. In order to reduce the plasma protein adsorption onto the PSi NPs, five bioactive molecules (peptides and hydrophilic anti-fouling polymers) were used to modify the surface of alkyne-terminated PSi NPs using copper-catalized click chemistry. Dextran 40 kDa modified PSi NPs presented enhanced cellular uptake and the least protein adsorption of all the tested NPs. Furthermore, the chemical conjugation of drug molecules was studied. The targeting peptides were successfully conjugated to antisense interleukin-6 via copper-catalyzed [3+2] azide-alkyne cycloaddition for targeted angiogenic anti-inflammation in cancer. Finally, anticancer drug methotrexate (MTX) was chemically conjugated to the cationic PSi NPs and…