A novel H2O2 responsive supramolecular hydrogel for controllable drug release

Abstract

Due to the important significance of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in physiology, aging and disease in living organisms, tremendous effort has been devoted to develop H₂O₂ responsive materials for the detection of its over production or for controlled drug release. However, it is still challenging to develop H₂O₂ responsive supramolecular hydrogels. In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel H₂O₂ responsive peptide hydrogelator bearing the thiazolidinone group. A supramolecular hydrogel based on peptide self-assembly was prepared through a heating–cooling process and its gel–sol phase transition could be triggered by the removal of thiazolidinone groups upon H₂O₂ oxidization. The excellent H₂O₂ responsive property of the supramolecular hydrogel was investigated by LC-MS, rheology and TEM. A drug release study in vitro demonstrated that the gel–sol phase transition could be applied for releasing gemcitabine sustainedly and controllably. Our study could provide a new way for the design of H₂O₂ responsive materials and hold great potential in the application of anticancer drug delivery.