Injectable Ovalbumin‐Based Composite Implant for Photothermal Tumor Therapy

Abstract

Polymeric hydrogels with three‐dimensional network structures have found tremendous applications in biomedicine. Herein, we report the synthesis of a multifunctional implant based on ovalbumin (OVA) as a carrier capable of synergistically delivering a photothermal transducing agent (polydopamine, PDA) to tumors. The formation of PDA was achieved by utilizing the basicity of OVA, whereas the formation of the hydrogel implant was achieved through the in vitro/in vivo near‐infrared (NIR) laser‐induced hyperthermia of PDA. The as‐prepared PDA@OVA implant exhibits high photothermal conversion efficiency (38.7 %). Once implanted in vivo, the OVA‐based implant shows great versatility in the treatment of malignant tumors. Furthermore, a chemotherapeutic (doxorubicin, DOX) and a contrast agent (iohexol), dispersed in the OVA solution in advance, can also be firmly entrapped in the hydrogel along with the hydrogel formation. It is anticipated that the multifunctional OVA‐based implant, not showing any obvious toxicity to healthy tissue, could be a promising system for synergistic cancer treatment.

Dual‐Crosslinked Dynamic Hydrogel Incorporating {Mo154} with pH and NIR Responsiveness for Chemo‐Photothermal Therapy

“…When only PBS was injected in mice followed by laser irradiation, there was a mild local temperature increase ( Figure a,b), which was also observed in previous reports. [ 68–70 ] However, when the mice were injected with Mo 154 Gel and exposed to NIR light, we observed a significant temperature increase to 50 °C, which caused rapid cell death due to necrosis and microvascular thrombosis evidenced by histology studies of tumor necrotic areas (Figure 5c). [ 71 ] This severe temperature increase was mainly limited to the irradiated area, with minimal increase (1 °C) in the body temperature.…”

From oncolytic peptides to oncolytic polymers: A new paradigm for oncotherapy

“…And this relatively non-specific mode of action endows oncolytic peptides with the ability to kill tumor cells within different TME and even the “dormant” tumor cells or cancer stem cells, which makes them promising agents for destroying the tumors with high heterogeneity [ 13 , 19 , 20 ]. This strategy should be superior to the traditional photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), and chemodynamic therapy (CDT), whose antitumor effects are highly limited by the penetration depth of light or reductive TME [ [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] ]. In addition, besides acting directly on cancer cells and causing oncolysis, some oncolytic peptides can also induce the exposure of tumor-associated antigen (TAA) and release of danger-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs) from dying tumor cells, thereby triggering systemic anticancer immune responses [ 26 ].…”