In Situ-Forming Cellulose/Albumin-Based Injectable Hydrogels for Localized Antitumor Therapy.

Ying Chen,Yudong Huang,Xiaomin Wang,Peipei Kuang,Quli Fan,Weihan Yin,Yushu Wang,Yupeng Liu,Yong Liu,Chao Yin,Jiahui Zan

doi:10.3390/polym13234221

Abstract

Injectable hydrogels, which are formed in situ by changing the external stimuli, have the unique characteristics of easy handling and minimal invasiveness, thus providing the advantage of bypass surgical operation and improving patient compliance. Using external temperature stimuli to realize the sol-to-gel transition when preparing injectable hydrogel is essential since the temperature is stable in vivo and controllable during ex vivo, although the hydrogels obtained possibly have low mechanical strength and stability. In this work, we designed an in situ fast-forming injectable cellulose/albumin-based hydrogel (HPC-g-AA/BSA hydrogels) that responded to body temperature and which was a well-stabilized hydrogen-bonding network, effectively solving the problem of poor mechanical properties. The application of localized delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs of HPC-g-AA/BSA hydrogels was evaluated. In vitro and in vivo results show that HPC-g-AA/BSA hydrogels exhibited higher antitumor efficacy of reducing tumor size and seem ideal for localized antitumor therapy.

Highlights

In situ-forming injectable hydrogel has attracted wide attention for its unique advantages, such as sol-to-gel transition, shape adaptation, non-invasive implantation, easy encapsulation, high payloads, etc. [1,2,3]
Injectable hydrogel has been reported for various biomedical applications, including drug delivery [4], cartilage repair [5], cell encapsulation [6], and tissue engineering [7]
The composition of the hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)-g-abietic acid (AA) was evaluated by 1HNMR characterization

Summary

Introduction

In situ-forming injectable hydrogel has attracted wide attention for its unique advantages, such as sol-to-gel transition, shape adaptation, non-invasive implantation, easy encapsulation, high payloads, etc. [1,2,3]. In situ-forming injectable hydrogel has attracted wide attention for its unique advantages, such as sol-to-gel transition, shape adaptation, non-invasive implantation, easy encapsulation, high payloads, etc. Injectable hydrogel has been reported for various biomedical applications, including drug delivery [4], cartilage repair [5], cell encapsulation [6], and tissue engineering [7]. A hydrogel formulation solution was injected into the irregular tissue defect formed after tumor resection to form a gel to fill the deficiency in response to a physiological condition, allowing minimal invasive implantation and providing the benefits of retention in the desired location. Limited mechanical strength and low stability are the main debits of thermo-sensitive injectable hydrogels, probably resulting from swelling or dissolution of the polymers. To improve the hydrogel strength and stability, covalent (chemical) or nonvalent (physical) crosslinking strategies are employed to develop cross-linked thermosentitive hydrogels [12,13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Conclusion