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An injectable persistent luminescence hydrogel for repeated photodynamic therapy of hypoxic tumors

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Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds great promise for treating cancer and other diseases, but its efficacy is hindered by prolonged light irradiation and tumor hypoxia. Here, we present an injectable persistent luminescent hydrogel, which consists of gelatin methacrylate and zinc gallate (ZGC) nanoparticles. A photosensitive agent, zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), and a hypoxia-activated prodrug, tirapazamine (TPZ), are incorporated into the hydrogel to fabricate a LED-excitable PDT nanoplatform. The persistent luminescence of ZGC nanoparticles efficiently activates ZnPc photosensitizers to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) after the cessation of LED light, reducing the need for continuous irradiation. Meanwhile, TPZ decomposes in the presence of low oxygen during PDT, producing additional toxic radicals to combat tumor hypoxia. Furthermore, the gelatin methacrylate bioink enhances the retention of these functional nanoagents at the tumor site, allowing for repeated PDT treatments. This work demonstrates the potential of injectable and rechargeable persistent hydrogels for efficient PDT treatments.

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All the experimental data herein presented are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12275169, 11905123, 31671011, and 81971740), Shanghai Sailing Program (19YF1415200), and Innovative Research Team of High-Level Local Universities in Shanghai.

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Author notes

  1. These authors cotributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China

    Huadong Chen, Hengji Zhang, Jing Wang & Xiaohui Zhu

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  1. Huadong Chen
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  2. Hengji Zhang
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  3. Jing Wang
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  4. Xiaohui Zhu
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Contributions

JW and XZ designed and supervised this study. HC and HZ performed the experiments, acquired data, and wrote the original manuscript. JW contributed to visualization and validation of experimental results. JW and XZ wrote, reviewed, and edited manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jing Wang or Xiaohui Zhu.

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Chen, H., Zhang, H., Wang, J. et al. An injectable persistent luminescence hydrogel for repeated photodynamic therapy of hypoxic tumors. Journal of Materials Research 39, 636–648 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-023-01256-7

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