Large Pore Mesoporous Silica and Organosilica Nanoparticles for Pepstatin A Delivery in Breast Cancer Cells.

(1) Background: Nanomedicine has recently emerged as a new area of research, particularly to fight cancer. In this field, we were interested in the vectorization of pepstatin A, a peptide which does not cross cell membranes, but which is a potent inhibitor of cathepsin D, an aspartic protease particularly overexpressed in breast cancer. (2) Methods: We studied two kinds of nanoparticles. For pepstatin A delivery, mesoporous silica nanoparticles with large pores (LPMSNs) and hollow organosilica nanoparticles (HOSNPs) obtained through the sol⁻gel procedure were used. The nanoparticles were loaded with pepstatin A, and then the nanoparticles were incubated with cancer cells. (3) Results: LPMSNs were monodisperse with 100 nm diameter. HOSNPs were more polydisperse with diameters below 100 nm. Good loading capacities were obtained for both types of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were endocytosed in cancer cells, and HOSNPs led to the best results for cancer cell killing. (4) Conclusions: Mesoporous silica-based nanoparticles with large pores or cavities are promising for nanomedicine applications with peptides.