Photoresponsive hyaluronate nanogel as an anticancer drug carrier

Abstract

In this study, we introduced photolabile 4‐(4‐(1‐hydroxyethyl)‐2‐methoxy‐5‐nitrophenoxy)butyric acid (HMNB) to prepare photoresponsive nanogels. Hyaluronate (HA) grafted with 4‐(4‐(1‐hydroxyethyl)‐2‐methoxy‐5‐nitrophenoxy)butyric acid (HA‐ g ‐HMNB) was self organized in aqueous solution. Interestingly, HA‐ g ‐HMNB nanogels exhibited caging and photo‐uncaging properties for an encapsulated antitumor drug. Photoactivation allowed accelerated antitumor drug release from uncaged nanogels. We found a significant improvement in KB tumor‐cell‐killing efficacy when this system was associated with local light irradiation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.