Injectable and pH-Responsive Silk Nanofiber Hydrogels for Sustained Anticancer Drug Delivery.
Silk is useful as a drug carrier due to its biocompatibility, tunable degradation, and outstanding capacity in maintaining the function of drugs. Injectable silk hydrogels could deliver doxorubicin (DOX) for localized chemotherapy for breast cancer. To improve hydrogel properties, thixotropic silk nanofiber hydrogels in an all-aqueous solution were prepared and used to locally deliver DOX. The silk hydrogels displayed thixotropic capacity, allowing for easy injectability followed by solidification in situ. The hydrogels were loaded with DOX and released the drug over eight weeks with pH- and concentration-dependent release kinetics. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that DOX-loaded silk hydrogels had good antitumor response, outperforming the equivalent dose of free DOX administered intravenously. Thixotropic silk hydrogels provide improved injectability to support sustained release, suggesting promising applications for localized chemotherapy.
Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.
Hongchun
H
Wu
Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.
Shanshan
S
Liu
Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.|National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.
Liying
L
Xiao
Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.|National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.
Xiaodan
X
Dong
Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.|National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.
Qiang
Q
Lu
Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, P.R. China.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University , Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.
David L
DL
Kaplan
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004317:Doxorubicin; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D020100:Hydrogels; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057139:Nanofibers; D047011:Silk
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D020100:Hydrogels; D047011:Silk; D004317:Doxorubicin
drug delivery; hydrogel; injectable; silk; thixothopic