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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Injectable Supramolecular Polymer-Nanoparticle Hydrogels for Cell and Drug Delivery Applications
Published on: February 7, 2021
Dual-Sensitive Hydrogel Nanoparticles Based on Conjugated Thermoresponsive Copolymers and Protein Filaments for
Roujin Ghaffari, Niloofar Eslahi1, Elnaz Tamjid2
1Department of Textile Engineering, Science and Research Branch , Islamic Azad University , P.O. Box 14515/775, Tehran 1477893855 , Iran.
Abstract:
In this study, novel hydrogel nanoparticles with dual triggerable release properties based on fibrous structural proteins (keratin) and thermoresponsive copolymers (Pluronic) are introduced. Nanoparticles were used for curcumin delivery as effective and safe anticancer agents, the hydrophobicity of which has limited their clinical applications. A drug was loaded into hydrogel nanoparticles by a single-step nanoprecipitation method. The drug-loaded nanoparticles had an average diameter of 165 and 66 nm at 25 and 37 °C, respectively. It was shown that the drug loading efficiency could be enhanced through crosslinking of the disulfide bonds in keratin. Crosslinking provided a targeted release profile under reductive conditions using an in vivo agent, glutathione (GSH), or in the presence of trypsin. Cytocompatibility assay using HeLa and L929 fibroblast cells exhibited no adverse effect of nanoparticles on cell viability up to 1 mg/mL. Besides, the green fluorescence of curcumin confirmed the uptake of drug-loaded nanoparticles by cancer cells. The redox and temperature-sensitive nanoparticles are potentially useable for the efficient delivery of hydrophobic drugs to targeted regions having a triggerable release profile.
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