Martínez Carmona, MarinaBaeza, AlejandroRodriguez Milla, Miguel A.García Castro, JavierVallet Regí, María Dulce Nombre2023-06-182023-06-182015-06-052050-750X10.1039/c5tb00304khttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/23170RESEARCHER ID M-3378-2014 (María Vallet Regí) ORCID 0000-0002-6104-4889 (María Vallet Regí) ORCID 0000-0002-9042-8865 (Alejandro Baeza) RESEARCHER ID: K-8193-2014(Alejandro Baeza)A novel phototriggered drug delivery nanocarrier, which exhibits very high tumor cytotoxicity against human tumoral cells, is presented. This device is based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles decorated with a biocompatible protein shell cleavable by light irradiation. The proteins that compose the protein shell (avidin, streptavidin and biotinylated transferrin) act as targeting and capping agents at the same time, avoiding the use of redundant systems. The light responsive behavior is provided by a biotinylated photocleavable cross-linker covalently grafted on the mesoporous surface, which suffers photocleavage by UV radiation (366 nm). Human tumoral cells incubated in the presence of a very low particle concentration enter into the apoptotic stage after a short irradiation time. Thus, the system described here could be applied to the treatment of exposed tumors that affect the skin, oesophagus, and stomach, among others, and are easily accessible for light irradiation.engjournal articlehttp://www.rsc.org/open access615.46546Drug-delivery systemTransferrin-receptorTargeted deliverySolid tumorsIn-vivoCancerReleaseCellsStreptavidinToxicityMaterialesQuímica inorgánica (Química)3312 Tecnología de Materiales2303 Química Inorgánica