Albumin-Loaded Silica Nanomaterials Functionalized with Organotin(IV) Agents: Theranostic Materials Against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Abstract

The current search for more effective and milder cancer treatments has led to the development of a wide variety of multifunctional nanoplatforms that are designed to both diagnose and treat cancer. In this study, the optimization of the synthesis of theranostic materials based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) functionalized with different cytotoxic (organotin(IV) compounds), imaging (fluorescein and/or indocyanine green), and targeting agents of interest, such as albumin (HA), is achieved by using different strategies. These systems shows good cytotoxic capacity against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells (MDA-MB-231) in MTT (dimethylthiazolyl-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assays and confocal analysis shows that the incorporation of HA as a potential active targeting molecule may enhance the cellular uptake of the nanomaterial, and thus, increasing its therapeutic potential. The analysis of the results and the effect of the imaging, targeting, and cytotoxic fragments should allow a more in-depth study of these materials in other in vitro and/or in vivo models.