Articles & Issues
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- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received March 7, 2024
Accepted June 4, 2024
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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One-Pot Preparation of Alpha-Chymotrypsin Degradable Hydrogel Micropatterns for Controlled Drug Release
Abstract
Fluorouracil (5-FU) has been the most widely used chemotherapy agent since its clinical introduction in 1957, and it continues
to form the basis of treatment for various cancers. However, due to the side eff ects of an antimetabolite, a strategy
fulfi lling stringent requirements placed on a 5-FU delivery system requires controlled and extended release of 5-FU in a
localized manner. Here, an in-situ gel-forming method for the preparation of micropatterned, α-chymotrypsin-degradable
hydrogel (PHcd) for controlled release of 5-FU is introduced. More specifi cally, methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HA) and
polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), known for their excellent moisture retention capacity, are chosen for skin therapy.
They are crosslinked with CYKC peptide through a thiol-ene click reaction. The synthesis of the CYKC peptide and its cleavage
by α-chymotrypsin were confi rmed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Additionally, the in vitro
release behavior was accurately monitored using the micropatterning method, demonstrating the stable immobilization and
successful sustained release of 5-FU upon the addition of α-chymotrypsin in micropatterned PHcd hydrogel. Consequently,
this micropatterned PHcd hydrogel can be considered a promising scaff old for localized and sustained delivery of cytotoxic
drugs for skin cancer treatment.
