Glutathione-degradable drug-loaded nanogel effectively and securely suppresses hepatoma in mouse model

The reduction-responsive polymeric nanocarriers have attracted considerable interest because of a significantly higher concentration of intracellular glutathione in comparison with that outside cells. The smart nanovehicles can selectively transport the antitumor drugs into cells to improve efficacies and decrease side effects. In this work, a facilely prepared glutathione-degradable nanogel was employed for targeting intracellular delivery of an antitumor drug (ie, doxorubicin [DOX]). DOX was loaded into nanogel through a sequential dispersion and dialysis approach with a drug loading efficiency of 56.8 wt%, and the laden nanogel (noted as NG/DOX) showed an appropriate hydrodynamic radius of 56.1±3.5 nm. NG/DOX exhibited enhanced or improved maximum tolerated dose on healthy Kunming mice and enhanced intratumoral accumulation and dose-dependent antitumor efficacy toward H22 hepatoma-xenografted mouse model compared with free drug. In addition, the upregulated antitumor efficacy of NG/DOX was further confirmed by the histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Furthermore, the excellent in vivo security of NG/DOX was confirmed by the detection of body weight, histopathology, and biochemical indices of corresponding organs and serum. With controllable large-scale preparation and fascinating in vitro and in vivo properties, the reduction-responsive nanogel exhibited a good prospect for clinical chemotherapy.