Dual-responsive drug delivery system with real time tunable release behavior

A dual-responsive drug delivery system (DDS) was successfully established by coating functional macromolecules onto the outlets of mesoporous silica nanospheres. Electro-sensitive and thermally responsive units were copolymerized into the macromolecular networks to control the drug release under different circumstances. The simulated drug delivery experiments conducted in vitro revealed that the drug release rate could be regulated continuously and remotely by one or both stimuli sources. The drug release rate under 0.5 Hz alternating electric field was almost twice as much as that without an alternating electric field. This combination of electro-responsive function and temperature sensitive characteristics could lead to a real time tunable drug delivery system with wide application area. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.