Simple Formation of Cancer Drug-Containing Self-Assembled Hydrogels with Temperature and pH-Responsive Release

Abstract

The purpose of a drug delivery system is to efficiently deliver drugs to a desired target, while simultaneously reducing the side effects caused by these drugs and maximizing their efficacy. However, in the manufacture of a drug delivery system, it is difficult to control the amount of drug encapsulation. In this study, we developed a simple formation process of self-assembled hydrogels that made it easier to package the desired amount of anticancer drugs. A self-assembled hydrogel was prepared by simply mixing transferrin, dithiothreitol, and an anticancer drug in a salt solvent. The structural conditions of the hydrogel were determined in order to control the concentration of the transferrin protein, dithiothreitol, and salt in the solvent. The self-assembled hydrogels contained the desired amount of anticancer drugs. With this system, changes in pH and temperature control the release rate and the release ratio of anticancer drugs. The cytotoxicity of the drug-loaded hydrogel was evaluated, which showed that 80% of the treated cells had been killed following 48 h of incubation.

Nanostructured Graphdiyne: Synthesis and Biomedical Applications

“…Different from traditional drug delivery, micro/nanocarriers are expected to become powerful active-transport vehicles transporting therapeutic payloads precisely to the desired disease site. Responsive to tumor pathological changes such as PH, 84,85 enzyme expression 86 and temperature, 87,88 which had PH-/photo-dual responsive release behavior for cancer therapy in vitro and in vivo. 89 A highly increased surface area grants GDY with superior DOX loading capacity, which is ascribed to the large π-conjugated architecture.…”

“…Different from traditional drug delivery, micro/nanocarriers are expected to become powerful active-transport vehicles transporting therapeutic payloads precisely to the desired disease site. Responsive to tumor pathological changes such as PH, 84 , 85 enzyme expression 86 and temperature, 87 , 88 nanorobotics transport to target tissue with enhanced therapeutic effect and reduced side effects of drug toxicity. In 2018 Jin et al established doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded GDY nanosheet which had PH-/photo- dual responsive release behavior for cancer therapy in vitro and in vivo.…”

Fabrication of CaCO3-Coated Vesicles by Biomineralization and Their Application as Carriers of Drug Delivery Systems

“…DDS is a system that delivers the drugs “in a minimum amount”, “at the right time”, and “to the right place”. Polymer micelles [ 5 , 6 ], dendrimers [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], hydrogels [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], and mesoporous nanoparticles [ 14 , 15 , 16 ] have been reported as DDS carriers. In addition, vesicles have been used for DDS carriers.…”

pH-Triggered Transition from Micellar Aggregation to a Host–Guest Complex Accompanied by a Color Change

“…It is worth noting that organs, body fluids, and cell compartments have their unique pH values in living organisms. For example, the pH value of pancreatic juice is 8.0–8.5. , An abnormal pH value can often be a warning sign of physiological dysfunction and diseases. − For example, a slightly lower pH value is found in a tumor cell than in a normal cell. − Therefore, numerous pH-responsive supramolecular carriers constructed by the abovementioned macrocyclic compounds have been used for targeted drug delivery and disease treatment. − However, how to easily visually monitor the stimuli-responsive process is still a challenging research topic. It should address two formidable challenges: (1) the stimuli signal can convert the assembly and at the same time (2) the stimuli signal can lead to a visual color change or fluorescence change obviously.…”