title: A comparative investigation between paclitaxel nanoparticle- and nanocrystal-loaded thermosensitive PECT hydrogels for peri-tumoural administration.
abstract: For in situ thermosensitive hydrogels, it is a big challenge to achieve high drug loading, long-term local retention, and effective drug release simultaneously. To address these issues, we combined the strategy of drug nanocrystals (NCs) and thermosensitive hydrogels with higher gel strength. In particular, we developed paclitaxel NC-based hydrogels using PECT, a thermosensitive polymer synthesized by us (PTX-NC-PECT), and a nanoparticle-based system was used as the control (PTX-NP-PECT). First, high levels of PTX could be loaded in both PECT hydrogels. Moreover, in vivo near infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging showed that both hydrogel systems were able to maintain the payloads of 1,1-dioctadecyltetramethyl indotricarbocyanine iodide (DiR) at a peri-tumoural site for at least 21 days, much longer than that achieved with the control hydrogel of Pluronic® F127. Furthermore, we observed that PTX-NCs released free PTX more effectively and homogeneously than PTX-NPs in vitro. It was further verified in vivo that the release of DiR from DiR-NC-PECT was more complete than that from DiR-NP-PECT. Finally, PTX-NC-PECT gel demonstrated the strongest anti-tumour efficacy on MCF-7 breast cancer. In conclusion, PTX-NC-PECT hydrogel might be a high-performance thermosensitive hydrogel for local cancer therapy.
authors: Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. yinyuxin@bjmu.edu.cn and Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Zhiqiang
authors: Z
authors: Lin
authors: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. ajdong@tju.edu.cn.
authors: Shuxin
authors: S
authors: Xu
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Gao
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Hongxiang
authors: H
authors: Hu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, China.
authors: Meiwan
authors: M
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, China.
authors: Yitao
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Bing
authors: B
authors: He
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Wenbing
authors: W
authors: Dai
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Hua
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Xueqing
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. ajdong@tju.edu.cn.
authors: Anjie
authors: A
authors: Dong
authors: Institute of Systems Biomedicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. yinyuxin@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Yuxin
authors: Y
authors: Yin
authors: Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. zqdodo@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors: Qiang
authors: Q
authors: Zhang