Skip to main content
. 2021 Oct 12;19:314. doi: 10.1186/s12951-021-01056-3

Table 4.

Examples of theranostic nanocarriers used for therapeutic purposes

Theranostic nanocarriers Contrast agents Particle size Therapeutic agents Targeting moieties Cancer cell lines Animal models References
YVO4:Eu3 + @MSN YVO4:Eu3 +   ~ 375 nm DOX None HeLa cells None [68]

YVO4:Eu3C and Fe

3O4-MSN

 YVO4:Eu3C  ~ 50 nm DOX None HeLa and MCF-7 cells None [69]
M-MSN MnFe2O4  ~ 100–150 nm DOX Folic acid HeLa cells Albino mice [70]
pMMSN Not used for imaging purpose 175.7 ± 11.4 nm DOX None None S180 tumor bearing mice [71]
MMS Not used for imaging purpose  ~ 150 nm DOX None HeLa cells None [72]
IONP IONP  ~ 4–10 nm DOX Folic acid HeLa cells None [72]
MSN-IONP IONP 60 ± 2 nm None None LNCaP cells LNCaP tumor bearing nude mice [73]
Au@SPIONs SPION  ~ 19 nm None MUC-1 aptamer L929 and HT-29 cells None [74]
GoMe Gold nanoparticle 50.87 ± 10.69 nm DOX None A2058 cells Lung tumor bearing FVB mice [75]
SPION SPION Not reported None Hyaluronic acid MDA-MB-231 cells MDA-MB-231 tumor-bearing mice [76]
Au@MSN Gold nanoparticle  ~ 63.12 nm 5-FU EpCAM aptamer HepG2 cells

HepG2 tumor bearing

nude mice

 [16]
SPION SPION  ~ 58 nm siRNA Folic acid SGC-7901 cells None [77]
MMSN Not used for imaging purpose 18.68 ± 2.31 nm Epi None C26 cells C26 tumor bearing mice [78]
SPION SPION Below 170 nm DOX Folic acid HCT116 and MCF-7 cells HCT116 tumor bearing mice [79]
MSN-EuGd EuGd  ~ 120 nm None Hyaluronic acid and TAT peptide A549 cells None [80]
MMSNs SPION 89.88 ± 4.7 nm DOX AS1411 aptamer MCF-7 cells None [59]
SPION@MSN Not used for imaging purpose  ~ 27–50 nm DOX MUC-1 aptamer MCF-7 cells None [60]
HMSNsCS-CuS CuS 150 ± 13 nm DOX None MDA-MB-231 cells MDA-MB-231 tumor bearing nude mice [81]

MSN Mesoporous silica nanoparticle, DOX Doxorubicin, M-MSN Mesoporous silica-coated superparamagnetic manganese ferrite (MnFe2O4) nanoparticle, pMMSN Phosphonate-terminated magnetic mesoporous nanoparticle, MMS Magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticle, IONP Iron oxide nanoparticle, MUC-1 Mucin 1, GoMe Gold/Mesoporous silica hybrid nanoparticle, EpCAM Epithelial cell adhesion molecule, MMSN Magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticle, Epi Epirubicin, HMSNsCS-CuS Mesoporous silica nanoparticles gated by chitosan-copper sulfide composites