Background:
In recent decades, the exponential growth of cancer cases and the limitations of existing therapeutic methods have led researchers to search for new and more effective solutions to combat this disease. In the meantime, nanocarriers have received special attention due to their unique capabilities in precisely targeting cancer cells and reducing side effects. The present study introduces and evaluates a nanocarrier system, consisting of gelatin hydrogel and folic acid-derived carbon dots, for the anticancer drug gemcitabine.
In this study, gelatin hydrogel was used due to its unique and desirable properties in the field of drug delivery. Gelatin is a natural polymer derived from collagen protein and is considered an ideal choice for biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, and availability. However, gelatin alone is mechanically weak and thermally unstable. To overcome these limitations, gelatin was used in the form of hydrogel in this study. Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer networks that can absorb large amounts of water and form a porous structure. This porous structure is very suitable for controlled drug loading and release. In this study, physical crosslinks were created in the gelatin network using a freeze-thaw method, which increased the structural stability of the hydrogel and made it an efficient nanocarrier for the anticancer drug gemcitabine.
Folic acid carbon dots (FACDs) were used in this study due to their increased structural stability of the nanocarrier. Folic acid carbon dots also act as a modifying and stabilizing agent for gelatin hydrogels. The results of this study showed that the presence of FACDs changed the secondary structure of gelatin in favor of a more stable "triple helix" structure and reduced the amount of "random coiling", which significantly increased the stability of the hydrogel network.
Aim:
Gemcitabine is one of the most widely used drugs in the treatment of various ty