Antibacterial and anticancer activities of asymmetric lollipop-like mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded with curcumin and gentamicin sulfate.

Asymmetric mesoporous silica nanoparticles with anisotropic geometry and dual-compartments are highly desired for loading and release of dual-drugs in separated storage spaces. In this study, an asymmetric lollipop-like mesoporous silica nanoparticle Fe3O4@SiO2&EPMO (EPMO = ethane bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica) was successfully developed via an anisotropic epitaxial growth strategy. The asymmetric nanoparticles show a uniform lollipop shape with a head of spherical Fe3O4@SiO2 core-shell that is 200 nm in diameter and a tail of EPMO nanorods with a length of ∼90 nm, and a specific surface area of ∼650.3 m2 g-1. Most importantly, the asymmetric nanoparticles possess the unique dual independent (hydrophilic/hydrophobic) spaces with good loading capacities and are significantly more efficient for cancer cell killing than pure drug based on in vitro studies. Additionally, the dual-drug-loaded nanoparticles exhibited excellent antibacterial activity.