Dual stimuli-responsive gelatin-based hydrogel for pH and temperature-sensitive delivery of curcumin anticancer drug

Stimuli-sensitive drug delivery enables transporting therapeutic agents to diseased areas and then releasing their cargo in response to external or internal stimuli. Here, we report on the synthesis and characterization of dual stimuli-responsive hydrogel for pH and temperature-sensitive delivery of curcumin (CUR) anticancer drug. CUR-loaded chitosan nanocapsules (CURNCs) were embedded in glucose-crosslinked gelatin hydrogel containing polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) (denoted as GGPDNCs). The result showed that CUR release from CURNCs was higher at acidic pH values. Glucose-crosslinked gelatin hydrogel was stable at 37 °C. To enable thermal responsivity under NIR laser irradiation, PDA NPs were embedded in the glucose-crosslinked gelatin hydrogel. The GGPDNCs hydrogel is, thus, engineered to respond to both pH and temperature stimuli. Under the optimum conditions, the release of CUR from the GGPDNCs-hydrogel under NIR irradiation (940 nm, 1.5 W/cm2) at pH = 5.0 was 1.43-fold higher than pH = 7.4 which is a promising progress in smart drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.