An injectable hyperthermic nanofiber mesh with switchable drug release to stimulate chemotherapy potency

Abstract

We developed a smart nanofiber mesh (SNM) with anticancer abilities as well as injectability and fast recovery from irregular to non-compressible shapes. The mesh can be injected at the tumor site to modulate and control anticancer effects by loading the chemotherapeutic drug, paclitaxel (PTX), as well as magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). The storage modulus of the mesh decreases when applied with a certain shear strain, and the mesh can pass through a 14-gauge needle. Moreover, the fibrous morphology is maintained even after injection. In heat-generation measurements, the mesh achieved an effective temperature of mild hyperthermia (41–43°C) within 5 min of exposure to alternating magnetic field (AMF) irradiation. An electrospinning method was employed to fabricate the mesh using a copolymer of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide (HMAAm), whose phase transition temperature was adjusted to a mildly hyperthermic temperature range. Pplyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was also incorporated to add shear-thinning property to the interactions between polymer chains derived from hydrogen bonding, The “on-off” switchable release of PTX from the mesh was detected by the drug release test. Approximately 73% of loaded PTX was released from the mesh after eight cycles, whereas only a tiny amount of PTX was released during the cooling phase. Furthermore, hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy after exposure to an AMF showed significantly reduced cancer cell survival compared to the control group. Subsequent investigations have proven that a new injectable local hyperthermia chemotherapy platform could be developed for cancer treatment using this SNM.

Fast and convenient delivery of fluidextracts liquorice through electrospun core-shell nanohybrids

“…The EHDA processes mainly take advantage of the quick and simple interactions between the electrostatic energy and working fluids, by which the solvents can be repelled ( Abadi et al, 2022 ; Sivan et al, 2022a ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Han et al, 2022 ; Yao et al, 2023 ). Thus, to prepare solid products, first and foremost the solvents must be removed all at once during the working processes.…”

Advanced applications of smart electrospun nanofibers in cancer therapy: With insight into material capabilities and electrospinning parameters

“…In this context, The capacity of a polymer to dissolve in a water-based solution at a specific temperature is known as thermoresponsiveness since organic solvents are inappropriate for usage in biological environments ( Bordat et al, 2019a ). Utilizing stimuli-responsive polymers as intelligent systems for drug delivery has garnered a lot of attention in the last few years ( Chen et al, 2022 ). Two groups of these polymers can be distinguished: those with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) and those with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST).…”

“…The drug release test showed that PTX was released from the mesh in a switchable “on-off” manner. While very little was released within the cooling phase, about 73% of the loaded PTX was released after eight cycles ( Chen et al, 2022 ). in another study, by electrospinning gelatin and PNIPAAm-NHS in a solution consisting of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl)-1-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxy succinimide (NHS) as the cross-linking agents, a straightforward one-step method for creating in situ cross-linked PNIPAAm/gelatin nanofibers has been devised ( Fig.…”