| Summary: | Silica nanoparticles (SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs) synthesized by the Stober method were used as drug delivery vehicles. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX·HCl) is a chemo-drug absorbed onto the SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs surfaces. The DOX·HCl loading onto and release from the SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs was monitored via UV-VIS and fluorescence spectra. Alternatively, the zeta potential was also used to monitor and evaluate the DOX·HCl loading process. The results showed that nearly 98% of DOX·HCl was effectively loaded onto the SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs’ surfaces by electrostatic interaction. The pH-dependence of the process wherein DOX·HCl release out of DOX·HCl-SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs was investigated as well. For comparison, both the free DOX·HCl molecules and DOX·HCl-SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs were used as the labels for cultured cancer cells. Confocal laser scanning microscopy images showed that the DOX·HCl-SiO<sub>2</sub> NPs were better delivered to cancer cells which are more acidic than healthy cells. We propose that engineered DOX·HCl-SiO<sub>2</sub> systems are good candidates for drug delivery and clinical applications.
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