Fabrication of lipid-modified drug nanocrystals loaded injectable hydrogel for breast cancer therapy

• Published in: Discover nano Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 30
• Main Authors: Kumar, Manish, Jha, Abhishek, Goswami, Pooja, Srivastava, Ritika, Manjit, Manjit, Bharti, Kanchan, Koch, Biplob, Mishra, Brahmeshwar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 12.02.2025; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Body temperature; Breast cancer; breast neoplasms; Cancer; Cancer therapies; cancer therapy; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystals; Drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Drug development; drugs; Ethanol; Fabrication; Fucoidan; Hydrogel; Hydrogels; Implant; In vivo methods and tests; intravenous injection; Laboratories; Lipids; Low temperature; Materials Science; Molecular Medicine; Nanochemistry; Nanocrystals; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Paclitaxel; Sol-gel processes; Toxicity; viscosity; Drug delivery; Breast cancer; Nanocrystals; Hydrogel; Implant
• ISSN: 1931-7573; 2731-9229; 2731-9229; 1556-276X
• DOI: 10.1186/s11671-025-04195-w

The current study includes the design of soluplus stabilized, lipid-coated, and fucoidan-oleylamine conjugate modified paclitaxel nanocrystals. The nanocrystals (Lipid-NCs) were about 100 nm, homogeneous, stable and showed improved drug release compared to pure PTX. The nanocrystals were subsequently loaded in an in situ gel-forming hydrogel for the intratumoral injection. The resulting hydrogel exhibited a sol-form at the lower temperature of 2–8 °C while converted to a gel-form at the body temperature. The injectable hydrogel had a reasonable viscosity, an acceptable pH, good syringeability, and a quick sol–gel transition. The hydrogel demonstrated high payload potential, homogeneous distribution, and controlled long-term drug release. In vivo studies revealed the higher efficacy of Lipid-NCs hydrogel in tumor inhibition while avoiding systemic toxicity, compared to pure PTX-loaded hydrogel and intravenously administered PTX. In conclusion, nanocrystal-loaded hydrogel is a promising localized drug delivery system for breast cancer therapy. Graphical abstract