Chengbiao Yang

The inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis by self-assembled nanofibers of taxol

Molecular hydrogels have big potential for local delivery and sustained release of therapeutic agents. In this paper, we reported on a molecular hydrogel mainly formed by the widely used anti-cancer drug of taxol. The hydrogel was formed by an ester bond hydrolysis process from a taxol derivative (Taxol-SA-GSSG, 1) and could be administrated into solid tumors to dramatically hinder their growths and prevent their metastasis. Besides the improved anti-cancer effect compared to the clinically used intravenous (i.v.) injection of Taxol(®), the concentration of taxol in blood was low due to the local administration of taxol hydrogels, which greatly enhanced the dosage tolerance of mice to taxol and might reduce side effects of taxol during chemotherapy. Our observations suggested that the hydrogel mainly composed of taxol would have great potential for its practical applications.

A Powerful CD8+ T‐Cell Stimulating D‐Tetra‐Peptide Hydrogel as a Very Promising Vaccine Adjuvant

A novel vaccine adjuvant based on a supramolecular hydrogel of a D-tetra-peptide is reported. Antigens can be easily incorporated into the hydrogel by a vortex or by gently shaking before injection. The vaccines can stimulate strong CD8+ T-cell responses, which significantly inhibits tumor growth. This novel adjuvant is expected to enable a wide range of sub-unit vaccines and help the production of antibodies.

Molecular hydrogelators consist of Taxol and short peptides/amino acids

Injectable molecular hydrogels hold big potential for the local delivery of anti-cancer drugs for chemotherapy. We recently reported on a molecular hydrogelator of two complementary anti-cancer drugs of dexamethasone and Taxol. In this study, we study in detail the structure–gelation property of Taxol derivatives. We found that even the conjugates of Taxol and an amino acid such as glutamic acid, serine, and arginine with hydrophilic side chains were efficient molecular hydrogelators. The six gels reported in this paper were characterized by rheology and TEM and the release profile of Taxol from gels were also studied. Gels reported in this study possessed high drug (Taxol) loading percentages in self-assembled nanofibers, exhibited constant and sustained release of Taxol from gels, and were injectable. Our results demonstrated that Taxol derivatives were efficient gelators and the injectable gels formed by them might be developed into local delivery systems for chemotherapy.

Folic acid as a versatile motif to construct molecular hydrogelators through conjugations with hydrophobic therapeutic agents

We demonstrate that folic acid (FA) is a versatile molecule to construct molecular hydrogelators through conjugation with hydrophobic therapeutic agents.