Applications of Tailored Mesoporous Silicate Nanomaterials in Regenerative Medicine and Theranostics

Abstract

Tailored mesoporous silicate nanomaterials have attracted significant interest due to their exceptional surface properties, including high interfacial toughness, tunable thickness, customizable topology, optical transparency, and adjustable hydrophobicity. These characteristics enable them to exhibit a wide range of functional behaviors, such as antibacterial, anti-fouling, anti-fogging, lubricating, and abrasion-resistant properties, to name just a few. With recent advances in surface-modified nanosystems for bioengineering and biomedical applications, silica-based nanomaterials have emerged as promising candidates owing to their ease of surface functionalization, bioactivity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioavailability. Consequently, they have been widely explored in various therapeutic contexts. This review provides a concise and concentrated summary of recent advances and applications of tailored mesoporous silicate nanomaterials in regenerative medicine and theranostics, with the primary focus being on how endogenous or exogenous triggers can be leveraged to achieve selective and precise delivery of various biomolecules and active therapeutics across diverse cellular environments, by harnessing the intrinsic properties of mesoporous silicate nanoparticles. This focus also guided the selection of specific examples provided to highlight their wide range of applications, with the report concluding with some perspectives and remaining challenges.