Issue 16, 2023

An injectable supramolecular hydrogel as a self-drug-delivery system for local chemoimmunotherapy against melanoma

Abstract

Skin-cancer melanoma caused 57k death in 2020. Some of the available therapies are: topical application of a gel loaded with an anti-skin cancer drug and intravenous injection of immune cytokines; however, both the approaches have drawbacks such as inefficient internalization of the drug in cancer cells and a short half-life with severe side effects, respectively. Interestingly, we observed for the first time that a subcutaneously implanted hydrogel designed and synthesized by coordinating NSAIDs and 5-AP with Zn(II) can effectively combat melanoma cell (B16-F10)-induced tumors in C57BL/6 mice. Both in vitro and in vivo results show that it can effectively reduce PGE2 expression, consequently upregulating IFN-γ and IL-12 that eventually engage M1-macrophages for activating T cells (CD8+), triggering apoptosis. This unique all-in-one self-drug-delivery approach, wherein the hydrogel implant is made from the drug molecules itself providing both chemotherapy and immunotherapy in combating deadly melanoma, highlights the supramolecular chemistry-based bottom-up approach in cancer therapy.

Graphical abstract: An injectable supramolecular hydrogel as a self-drug-delivery system for local chemoimmunotherapy against melanoma

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Mai 2023
Accepted
22 Jun 2023
First published
01 Jul 2023

Biomater. Sci., 2023,11, 5618-5633

An injectable supramolecular hydrogel as a self-drug-delivery system for local chemoimmunotherapy against melanoma

S. Bera, H. K. Datta and P. Dastidar, Biomater. Sci., 2023, 11, 5618 DOI: 10.1039/D3BM00758H

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