Issue 24, 2016

Interactions governing the entrapment of anticancer drugs by low-molecular-weight hydrogelator for drug delivery applications

Abstract

We present the effect of size, charge, and hydrophobicity of anticancer drugs on their drug encapsulation efficacy in an L-alanine-based small-molecule hydrogelator. Entrapment of various anticancer drugs in a hydrogel was depicted and correlated towards interactions between gelator and drug molecules. Hydrogel showed the highest entrapment for 5-fluorouracil, which was as high as ∼1.2 mg mL−1 in 1.5% (w/v) hydrogel; however, with small polar anticancer drugs such as cisplatin and carboplatin, poor encapsulation was observed. Hydrogel was also able to entrap and retain hydrophobic drugs, such as docetaxel and tamoxifen, with a high drug-loading efficiency. The hydrogel-entrapped drugs were then characterized by rheology and SEM studies to understand the effect of the drugs on hydrogel assembly. Drug release and anticancer activity studies showed slow and sustained release of drugs from hydrogels, making them suitable for exploring with regard to future cancer therapeutic applications.

Graphical abstract: Interactions governing the entrapment of anticancer drugs by low-molecular-weight hydrogelator for drug delivery applications

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Dec 2015
Accepted
05 Jan 2016
First published
12 Jan 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 19751-19757

Author version available

Interactions governing the entrapment of anticancer drugs by low-molecular-weight hydrogelator for drug delivery applications

S. Gupta, M. Singh, A. R. M., P. S. Yavvari, A. Srivastava and A. Bajaj, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 19751 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA25847B

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