Injectable Silk-Vaterite Composite Hydrogels with Tunable Sustained Drug Release Capacity

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Drug Delivery Systems
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Chemotherapy efficiency is limited by drug delivery challenges.
• Existing drug carriers struggle to balance controlled release, dispersion, and targeting.
• Optimizing multiple carrier properties simultaneously remains difficult.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop synergistic carriers combining vaterite microspheres and silk nanofiber hydrogels.
• To enhance the dispersibility and controlled release of chemotherapeutic agents.
• To create a pH-sensitive, injectable drug delivery system for cancer therapy.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of synergistic silk-vaterite hydrogel carriers.
• Dispersion and stability assessment of vaterite microspheres within silk hydrogels.
• Loading and controlled release studies of doxorubicin (DOX).
• Evaluation of cytotoxicity and therapeutic potential.

Main Results:

• Vaterite microspheres were homogeneously dispersed and stable in silk nanofiber hydrogels.
• Silk-vaterite hydrogels effectively loaded and sustained the release of DOX.
• Drug release was tunable based on vaterite stability and drug loading.
• Controlled DOX delivery regulated cytotoxicity, indicating optimized therapeutic potential.

Conclusions:

• Synergistic silk-vaterite hydrogels offer a promising strategy for advanced drug delivery.
• This system improves dispersibility, controlled release, and injectability for chemotherapy.
• The developed hydrogels pave the way for novel delivery systems with enhanced therapeutic benefits.