Abstract
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common oral cancer of the head and neck, which causes tremendous physical and mental pain to people. Traditional chemotherapy usually results in drug resistance and side effects, affecting the therapy process. In this study, a self-powered electrical impulse chemotherapy (EIC) method based on a portable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was established for OSCC therapy. A common chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin (DOX), was used in the experiment. The TENG designed with zigzag structure had a small size of 6 cm × 6 cm, which could controllably generate the fixed output of 200 V, 400 V and 600 V. The electrical impulses generated by the TENG increased the cell endocytosis of DOX remarkably. Besides, a simply and ingeniously designed microneedle electrode increased the intensity of electric field (EF) between two adjacent microneedle tips compared with the most used planar interdigital electrode at the same height, which was more suitable for three-dimensional (3D) cells or tissues. Based on the TENG, microneedle electrode and DOX, the self-powered EIC system demonstrated a maximal apoptotic cell ratio of 22.47% and a minimum relative 3D multicellular tumor sphere (MCTS) volume of 160% with the drug dosage of 1 μg mL−1.
Highlights
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralOral cancer accounts for about 3% of all malignant tumors, among which oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common [1–3]
We demonstrated a self-powered electrical impulse chemotherapy (EIC) method for OSSC therapy based on the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)
The back 3M tape could guarantee the complete contact of the two friction layers and the high resistance of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate could realize the entire separation after contact
Summary
Oral cancer accounts for about 3% of all malignant tumors, among which oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common [1–3]. The factors, such as alcohol, smoking, human papillomavirus infection, diet and genes, can lead to abnormal gene expression, promoting the development of OSCC [4]. OSCC patients usually have distant metastasis at the initial diagnosis, missing the optimal therapeutic period. In this regard, the 5-year survival rate is only about 50% [7]. The main therapy methods are chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, among which chemotherapy is most widely used, especially for the advanced OSCC patients. Large dosages, high toxicity and low efficiency have become a great interference in the process of chemotherapy [8]
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