The hydrogel, composed of biocompatible and biodegradable ultra-short peptides, mimics living tissues, making it ideal for biomedical applications
GUWAHATI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and Bose Institute, Kolkata, have developed an advanced injectable hydrogel for localised drug delivery in the treatment of cancer. This solution will deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to tumor sites, which will reduce the side effects associated with conventional cancer therapies.
ALSO READ: Guwahati-North Guwahati Bridge To Be Named ‘Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu’
The hydrogel, composed of biocompatible and biodegradable ultra-short peptides, mimics living tissues, making it ideal for biomedical applications. It remains localised at the injection site, responding to elevated glutathione (GSH) levels—molecules abundant in tumor cells—to trigger drug release. This mechanism minimises interaction with healthy tissues and reduces systemic side effects.
Preclinical trials on a murine model of breast cancer demonstrated the hydrogel’s efficacy. A single injection, loaded with the chemotherapy drug Doxorubicin, achieved a ~75% reduction in tumor size within 18 days, with no detectable side effects on other organs.
The findings, published in Materials Horizons, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, were led by Debapratim Das from IIT Guwahati, with contributions from his research scholars Tanushree Das and Ritvika Kushwaha, and collaborators Kuldip Jana, Satyajit Halder, and Anup Kumar Misra from Bose Institute.
Further research is ongoing to optimise tumor size reduction and explore applications for other tumor types.