Enzymatically degradable hybrid organic–inorganic bridged silsesquioxane nanoparticles for in vitro imaging

We describe biodegradable bridged silsesquioxane (BS) composite nanomaterials with an unusually high organic content (ca. 50%) based on oxamide components mimicking amino acid biocleavable groups. Unlike most bulk BS materials, the design of sub-200 nm nearly monodisperse nanoparticles (NPs) was achieved. These enzymatically degradable BS NPs were further tested as promising imaging nanoprobes.