“Thunderstruck”: Plasma-Polymer-Coated Porous Silicon Microparticles As a Controlled Drug Delivery System

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 8; no. 7; pp. 4467 - 4476
• Main Authors: McInnes, Steven J. P, Michl, Thomas D, Delalat, Bahman, Al-Bataineh, Sameer A, Coad, Bryan R, Vasilev, Krasimir, Griesser, Hans J, Voelcker, Nicolas H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 24-02-2016
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Camptothecin - therapeutic use; Drug Carriers - chemistry; Drug Carriers - therapeutic use; Drug Delivery Systems; Humans; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Neuroblastoma - drug therapy; Particle Size; Polymers - chemistry; Polymers - therapeutic use; Porosity; Silicon - chemistry; Silicon - therapeutic use; fluorinated coating; plasma polymerization; porous silicon; controlled drug release; particle coating
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b12433

Controlling the release kinetics from a drug carrier is crucial to maintain a drug’s therapeutic window. We report the use of biodegradable porous silicon microparticles (pSi MPs) loaded with the anticancer drug camphothecin, followed by a plasma polymer overcoating using a loudspeaker plasma reactor. Homogenous “Teflon-like” coatings were achieved by tumbling the particles by playing AC/DC’s song “Thunderstruck”. The overcoating resulted in a markedly slower release of the cytotoxic drug, and this effect correlated positively with the plasma polymer coating times, ranging from 2-fold up to more than 100-fold. Ultimately, upon characterizing and verifying pSi MP production, loading, and coating with analytical methods such as time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetry, water contact angle measurements, and fluorescence microscopy, human neuroblastoma cells were challenged with pSi MPs in an in vitro assay, revealing a significant time delay in cell death onset.