LAUSR

Abstract To overcome premature drug leakage and instability in drug delivery systems, we designed tri-stimuli responsive multiwalled carbon nanotubes covered by mesoporous silica graft poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-block-poly(2-(4-formylbenzoyloxy) ethyl methacrylate) multifunctional materials via disulfide linkages (MWCNTs@MSN-s-s-g-PNIPAM-b-PFBEMA). The multifunctional materials could covalently bind and physically load anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX), and exhibited pH-, temperature- and reductant-induced multi-stimuli responsiveness, significantly enhancing drug loading capacity and improving the release dynamics of drug. The DOX-loaded multifunctional materials exhibited the optimal release behavior in cancer environments compared with in normal cells upon simultaneously triggered by these stimuli. It meant that the MWCNTs@MSN-s-s-g-PNIPAM-b-PFBEMA could serve as efficient gatekeepers to control the mesopore on–off and thus to modulate drug release. The multifunctional materials were proved to be low toxic, whereas the DOX-loaded counterparts had almost the same toxicity as free DOX to cancer cells. Therefore, the developed multifunctional materials can be used as promising drug controlled delivery platforms for cancer therapy.