Sericin/Dextran Injectable Hydrogel as an Optically Trackable Drug Delivery System for Malignant Melanoma Treatment

Abstract

Severe side effects of cancer chemotherapy prompt developing better drug delivery systems. Injectable hydrogels are an effective site-target system. For most of injectable hydrogels, once delivered in vivo, some properties including drug release and degradation, which are critical to chemotherapeutic effects and safety, are challenging to monitor. Developing a drug delivery system for effective cancer therapy with in vivo real-time noninvasive trackability is highly desired. Although fluorescence dyes are used for imaging hydrogels, the cytotoxicity limits their applications. By using sericin, a natural photoluminescent protein from silk, we successfully synthesized a hydrazone cross-linked sericin/dextran injectable hydrogel. This hydrogel is biodegradable and biocompatible. It achieves efficient drug loading and controlled release of both macromolecular and small molecular drugs. Notably, sericin's photoluminescence from this hydrogel is directly and stably correlated with its degradation, enabling long-term in vivo imaging and real-time monitoring of the remaining drug. The hydrogel loaded with Doxorubicin significantly suppresses tumor growth. Together, the work demonstrates the efficacy of this drug delivery system, and the in vivo effectiveness of this sericin-based optical monitoring strategy, providing a potential approach for improving hydrogel design toward optimal efficiency and safety of chemotherapies, which may be widely applicable to other drug delivery systems.

Intra-articular Retention and Anti-arthritic Effects in Collagen-Induced Arthritis Model Mice by Injectable Small Interfering RNA Containing Hydrogel

“…[3][4][5] Additionally, the sericin has biodegradability, biocompatibility, low-immunogenicity and nontoxicity. 3,6) We also developed a hydrogel formulation including RelA-targeting small interfering RNA (siRNA) (siRelA). The siRelA retention was improved at the administration site after topical application in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis, and significant improvement of symptoms was observed upon application of the SC hydrogel in comparison with application of siRelA alone.…”

Biodegradable Nanoparticles for Delivery of Therapeutics in CNS Infection

“…These modifications can be used to decrease mesh size or to trap the drug until the nanoparticle receives a specific release signal (Wischke et al 2013). Hydrogels are of particular interest to the field of cancer treatments because they have shown to be a tractable, biodegradable, and biocompatible drug delivery system of chemotherapy drugs (Liu et al 2016). Liu et al loaded DOX into an injectable hydrogel created with sericin, a natural photoluminescent and dextran, a branch polysaccharide (liu et al 2016).…”

“…Hydrogels are of particular interest to the field of cancer treatments because they have shown to be a tractable, biodegradable, and biocompatible drug delivery system of chemotherapy drugs (Liu et al 2016). Liu et al loaded DOX into an injectable hydrogel created with sericin, a natural photoluminescent and dextran, a branch polysaccharide (liu et al 2016). These injectable hydrogels inhibited melanoma tumor growth by 50% compared to free DOX administration in male C57BL/6 mice models (Liu et al 2016).…”

“…Liu et al loaded DOX into an injectable hydrogel created with sericin, a natural photoluminescent and dextran, a branch polysaccharide (liu et al 2016). These injectable hydrogels inhibited melanoma tumor growth by 50% compared to free DOX administration in male C57BL/6 mice models (Liu et al 2016). Additionally, the hydrogels increased survival rate of the mice by 33% compared to those mice treated with free DOX (Liu et al 2016).…”

“…These injectable hydrogels inhibited melanoma tumor growth by 50% compared to free DOX administration in male C57BL/6 mice models (Liu et al 2016). Additionally, the hydrogels increased survival rate of the mice by 33% compared to those mice treated with free DOX (Liu et al 2016). …”