ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
iRGD-Mediated MPN Functionalization of MSNs for Targeted Delivery of MIF: A Potential Strategy for Placenta Accreta Spectrum Therapy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan University West China Second University Hospital, Chengdu, China
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Placenta Accreta Spectrum (PAS) is a severe pregnancy complication characterized by abnormal placental invasion, leading to life-threatening hemorrhage during delivery. Current management strategies face challenges between systemic side effects of pharmacological interventions and risks of invasive surgery. This study develops a targeted nanotherapeutic platform using iRGD peptide-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) coated with metal-phenolic networks (MPNs) for mifepristone (MIF) delivery. The MPN-coated MSNs exhibited enhanced drug loading capacity (275 μg/mg) and sustained release profiles (83.3% release over 48 h). In vitro studies demonstrated excellent biocompatibility and selective uptake in trophoblast cells via αvβ3 integrin targeting. In a pregnant mice model, the iRGD-modified nanoparticles showed preferential placental accumulation and induced significant abortion through targeted trophoblast apoptosis, as evidenced by reduced chorionic gonadotropin levels and histological analysis. While this proof-of-concept study demonstrates a promising targeted therapeutic strategy using healthy animal models, we acknowledge the limitation of not employing true PAS pathological models. Our findings establish a foundation for developing precision nanomedicines for placental disorders, with future studies required to validate efficacy in disease-specific models.
Keywords: Placenta accreta spectrum, Mesoporous silica nanoparticles, Metal-phenolic networks (MPNs), iRGD peptide, Drug delivery and sustained release
Received: 13 Aug 2025; Accepted: 07 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Zeng, Chen and Tong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Guolin He, heguolin_19@scu.edu.cn
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