Thermoresponsive and ROS-activated Prodrug Hydrogel for Controlled Drug Release Applications
발표자
고명서 (충남대학교)
연구책임자
허강무 (충남대학교)
초록
내용
Thermogels undergo reversible sol–gel transitions near physiological temperatures, making them ideal for injectable and localized drug delivery. In this study, we developed a novel ROS-responsive thermogel by covalently conjugating the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) onto octanoyl glycol chitosan (OGC), a thermo-responsive polymer, using a thioketal (TK) linker—referred to as OGC-TK-DOX. This prodrug system addresses the limitations of physical drug loading, such as burst release and non-specific distribution. The chemical structure was confirmed by ¹H-NMR and FT-IR, and drug content was quantified using UV–vis spectroscopy. OGC-TK-DOX exhibited a sol–gel transition near body temperature, and its gelation behavior was tunable by the degree of substitution of octanoyl and DOX-TK groups. In summary, the OGC-TK-DOX thermogel system shows strong potential as a candidate for precise and sustained anticancer drug release at targeted sites, holding promise for effective cancer therapy.