Enhanced antitumor activity of carbendazim on HeLa cervical cancer cells by aptamer mediated controlled release.

Carbendazim, is a broad-spectrum fungicide and also a promising experimental antitumor drug as reproduction and developmental toxicant, which is currently under phase II preclinical trials. In this study, an approach based on controlled and targeted release with aptamers and mesoporous silica nanoparticles was investigated to improve the antitumor activity of carbendazim. To this end, we synthesized aptamer conjugated silica nanoparticles for testing cytotoxicity properties with human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cultured cells.