A silica–polymer composite nano system for tumor-targeted imaging and p53 gene therapy of lung cancer

In our study, a silica–polymer composite nano system (MB-NSi–p53–CS ternary complexes) composed of methylene blue-encapsulated amine-terminated silica nanoparticles (MB-NSi) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) were successfully developed for tumor-targeted imaging and p53 gene therapy of lung cancer. MB was employed as a NIR probe for in vivo imaging, MB-NSi nanoparticles were served as gene vector, while CS was applied to be a coating and targeting polymer. MB-NSi–p53–CS ternary complexes displayed nanosized diameter, effective p53 condensation ability, efficient p53 protection profile, and superior bovine serum albumin stability in vitro. Experiments on A549 cell line further revealed low cytotoxicity, high p53 transfection, and anticancer efficacy of MB-NSi–p53–CS ternary complexes. In vivo imaging and tumor targetability assays demonstrated that MB-NSi–p53–CS ternary complexes were a preferable system with desirable imaging and tumor-targeting properties.