Plasmonically Active Supramolecular Polymer–Metal–Organic Framework Hydrogel Nanocomposite for Localized Chemo-photothermal Therapy

Abstract

Hydrogels are a three-dimensional cross-linked network of hydrophilic polymers, extensively used for biomedical, biotechnological, and pharmaceutical applications. The functionality of hydrogels could be enhanced by synthesizing hydrogel nanocomposites that can both enable controlled release of drugs in a cancerous microenvironment and near-infrared-induced localized heat generation for combined chemo-photothermal therapy (chemo-PTT), a potent anticancer therapeutic approach. Herein, we developed a plasmonically active hydrogel with carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) as the supporting matrix cross-linked with ZIF8 nanoparticles and Mg 2+ . The ZIF8 nanoparticles were loaded in situ with ultrasmall gold nanoparticles (UsGNPs) and an anticancer drug curcumin for localized chemo-PTT. The plasmonic hydrogel (PHG) showed viscoelastic and self-healing properties governed by the supramolecular interaction between ZIF8 and CMC. The injectable PHG exhibited a photothermal conversion efficiency of ∼41%. Chemo-PTT with Cur-PHG effectively inhibited 4T1 breast cancer under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The biocompatible PHG was found to release UsGNPs from tumor tissues post intratumoral injection followed by predominant distribution in the liver and kidney. Due to the size of UsGNPs (<5 nm), they were consistently detected in urine over the period of treatment confirming the overall degradable nature of PHG that delivers a localized outcome with negligible systemic toxicity.

Metal–organic gels: recent advances in their classification, characterization, and application in the pharmaceutical field

“…If the G 0 and G 00 curves intersect as the strain increases, the strain value at the intersection point represents the critical strain value required to break the hydrogel network. 50,54 During the alternating low-high-low shear strain cycle, if G 0 and G 00 can recover to their original values several times in a short period, this proves that the MOGs have repeatable self-healing properties. 155,156 For example, Zeng and colleagues 150 applied 300% and 1% continuously alternating shear strain to a MOG made of a bisphosphonate-modified hyaluronic acid hydrogel matrix and MOF (Fig.…”

“…In the MOGs formed by MOFs and polymers, the MOF nanoparticles are trapped in the spaces between the polymer gel chains. 12 A variety of natural polymers (such as chitosan, 42 soybean hull polysaccharides, 43,44 gelatin, 45,46 silk fibroin, 47 pectin, 48,49 sodium alginate, [50][51][52] and starch 53 ), and synthetic polymers (such as carboxymethyl chitosan, 54 gelatin methacrylate, 55,56 polyacrylamide, 57,58 polyvinyl alcohol, 59 poloxamer, 60 and carboxymethylcellulose 61 ) is often used as the gelation agent (Table 1). This review further divides the synthetic strategy of these MOGs into three categories including ''MOF-first'', 62 ''polymer-first'', and ''one-pot'' (Fig.…”

Establishment and verification of a nomogram to predict risk and prognostic factors of triple-negative breast cancer with organ metastasis based on the SEER cohort study

“…Numerous studies have shown that TNBC is highly prone to recurrence and metastasis, so, its prognosis was worse than subtypes of BC, and the 5-year survival rate of TNBC patients with distant metastasis is only 11% (Kaur et al, 2023;Li et al, 2023;Lim et al, 2020). Presently, the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) staging guidelines have become the gold standard for evaluating tumor prognosis (Amin et al, 2017).…”

A Lipophilic Salt Form to Enhance the Lipid Solubility and Certain Biopharmaceutical Properties of Lapatinib

“…Administrations by solubility-enhancing techniques, longacting injectable formulations, or lipid-based carrier systems are some of the possible approaches to overcoming the adverse biopharmaceutical properties of the drug. Several approaches such as polymeric micelles, 9 amorphous solid dispersions, 10 cyclodextrin complexes, 11 nanofibers, 1 albumin-bound nanoparticles, 12 nanocrystals, 13 nanosponges, 14,15 lipid hybrid nanoparticles, 16 polymer-stabilized nanoparticles, 17 and PEGylated liposomes 18 have been attempted to enhance the pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties of LTP and variously evaluated in vitro and in vivo. These works have attempted to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of LTP mostly by designing spatial-controlled release systems such as hyaluronic acid-coated LTP nanocrystals and surface functionalization to enhance blood circulation time.…”