Temperature-Sensitive Nanocarbon Hydrogel for Photothermal Therapy of Tumors

Abstract

Background: Intelligent hydrogels continue to encounter formidable obstacles in the field of cancer treatment. A wide variety of hydrogel materials have been designed for diverse purposes, but materials with satisfactory therapeutic effects are still urgently needed. Methods: Here, we prepared an injectable hydrogel by means of physical crosslinking. Carbon nanoparticle suspension injection (CNSI), a sentinel lymph node imaging agent that has been widely used in the clinic, with sodium β-glycerophosphate (β-GP) were added to a temperature-sensitive chitosan (CS) hydrogel (CS/GP@CN) as an agent for photothermal therapy (PTT). After evaluating the rheological, morphological, and structural properties of the hydrogel, we used 4T1 mouse breast cancer cells and B16 melanoma cells to assess its in vitro properties. Then, we intratumorally injected the hydrogel into BALB/c tumor-bearing mice to assess the in vivo PTT effect, antitumor immune response and the number of lung metastases. Results: Surprisingly, this nanocarbon hydrogel called CS/GP@CN hydrogel not only had good biocompatibility and a great PTT effect under 808nm laser irradiation but also facilitated the maturation of dendritic cells to stimulate the antitumor immune response and had an extraordinary antimetastatic effect in the lungs. Discussion: Overall, this innovative temperature-sensitive nanocarbon hydrogel, which exists in a liquid state at room temperature and transforms to a gel at 37 °C, is an outstanding local delivery platform with tremendous PTT potential and broad clinical application prospects.

Harnessing the potential of hydrogels for advanced therapeutic applications: current achievements and future directions

“…This approach not only significantly boosts photothermal conversion efficiency but also localizes PTT effectiveness, thus minimizing the systemic dispersion of photosensitizers and mitigating potential inflammation or damage to healthy tissues induced by photothermal effects. 618 – 620 For instance, Liu and coworkers innovated a near-infrared (NIR)-responsive, DNA-mediated upconversion and Au nanoparticle hybrid hydrogel, enhancing photothermal efficiency up to 42.7%. 621 The electrostatic interactions between DNA and the hybrid nanoparticles of upconversion lanthanide-Au formed a dense, stable network, shielding the nanoparticles from rapid decomposition.…”

Advances in NIR-Responsive Natural Macromolecular Hydrogel Assembly Drugs for Cancer Treatment

“…The high photothermal efficiency maintains the high concentration of metformin in the tumor, which provides an excellent synergy between PDT and IT [117] Melanoma Combination of targeted drug therapy and PTT [118] MXenes Osteosarcoma Thermal ablation of residual tumor cells can effectively promote bone tissue regeneration and has antibacterial properties [119] HTA Osteosarcoma Induction of apoptosis in osteosarcoma-related cells and thermal ablation of tumors [120] SPIIN Breast cancer…”

“…The high photothermal efficiency maintains the high concentration of metformin in the tumor, which provides an excellent synergy between PDT and IT [117] Melanoma Combination of targeted drug therapy and PTT [118] MXenes Osteosarcoma Thermal ablation of residual tumor cells can effectively promote bone tissue regeneration and has antibacterial properties [119] HTA Osteosarcoma Induction of apoptosis in osteosarcoma-related cells and thermal ablation of tumors [120] SPIIN Breast cancer Tumor growth and metastasis to the lung were inhibited by 1064 nm light irradiation [121] PDA NPS Melanoma Dual regulation of pH and NIR can improve the tumor's hypoxic environment and maintain drug concentration [122] Breast cancer Cooperates with PPT and IT [123] Osteosarcoma High photothermal effect and good biocompatibility provide a good carrier for drug delivery [124] DOX/DOPA-rGO Breast cancer Combined photothermal and CT effectively reducing the viability to 21% [125] Au Melanoma Gene-targeted therapy for ocular melanoma under photothermal synergy [126] Breast cancer The gold coating was attached to enhance the fluorescence signal for easy diagnosis, and the photothermal conversion efficiency reached 65% [127] 4.…”