Design and therapeutic application of sodium alginate-based hydrogel with biodegradability and catalytic activity

How to efficiently treat cancer in a minimally invasive manner has become one of the major focuses of recent developments in biomedicine. In this research, biodegradable sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel encapsulated with NaHCO3 and glucose oxidase (GOX) was synthesized using Fe3+ as the crosslinker for the tumor chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and starvation therapy (ST). Material safety assessments revealed that this hydrogel possesses good in vitro and in vivo security. In tumor microenvrionment (TME), the Fe3+ further reacted with the intracellular glutathione and was transformed into Fe2+, which triggered the Fenton reaction with the H2O2 within TME and produced abundant highly toxic ·OH (hydroxyl radicals) for efficient tumor CDT. Furthermore, the GOX catalyzed the enzymolysis of glucose to consume the nutrient of the tumor and enhance the H2O2 level in TME. Besides, the CO2 bubbles that were generated from the decomposing of NaHCO3 promoted the contact between glucose and GOX. Findings in this research would have important implications for the present status of tumor therapy.