A generalizable strategy for crosslinkable albumin-based hydrogels and application as potential anti-tumor nanoplatform.

Albumin-based hydrogels have emerged as promising nanoparticle systems for the effective delivery of hydrophobic anticancer drugs. Anti-cancer drugs often cause some adverse effects, such as toxicity and rapid clearance by mononuclear phagocytic systems. Herein, a new strategy of synthesizing N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)-activated linker to form crosslinkable albumin-based hydrogels (CABH) is reported. The CABH favored physiochemical characteristics improvement of doxorubicin (Dox) and drug release. The CABH was constructed depending on the crosslinking reaction between NHS activated glycerol and albumin. The size of CABH was approximately 200 nm examined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the particle size and size distribution of the CABH remained stable in neutral PBS for 1 week. Dox loaded CABH would be controllably released in weak acidic environment verified by in vitro release and in vitro cell imaging. The Dox loaded hydrogel results in significant killing in the case of acidic culture medium. Our work provides a crosslinking method to formulate albumin nanoplatform and improve the size, stability, drug loading capacity and controlled release, which throws light on the potential application in drug delivery.

Controlled growth of titanium dioxide nanotubes for doxorubicin loading and studies of in vitro antitumor activity.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) materials are suitable for use as drug carriers due to their natural biocompatibility and nontoxicity. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to investigate the controlled growth of TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) of different sizes via an anodization method, in order to delineate whether the size of NTs governs their drug loading and release profile as well as their antitumor efficiency. TiO2 NTs were tailored to sizes ranging from 25 nm to 200 nm according to the anodization voltage employed. The TiO2 NTs obtained by this process were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering The larger TiO2 NTs exhibited greatly improved doxorubicin (DOX)-loading capacity (up to 37.5 wt%), which contributed to their outstanding cell-killing ability, as evidenced by their lower half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50). Comparisons were carried out of cellular uptake and intracellular release rates of DOX for large and small TiO2 NTs loaded with DOX. The results showed that the larger TiO2 NTs represent a promising therapeutic carrier for drug loading and controlled release, which could improve cancer treatment outcomes. Therefore, TiO2 NTs of larger size are useful substances with drug-loading potency that may be used in a wide range of medical applications.