Drug-Conjugated Dendrimer Hydrogel Enables Sustained Drug Release via a Self-Cleaving Mechanism

In this study, the anticancer drug, camptothecin (CPT), was covalently grafted onto polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer surface and then reacted with polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEG-DA) to form dendrimer hydrogel (DH-G3-CPT) with low cross-linking density. In this novel drug delivery system, CPT was cleaved from dendrimer via the ammonolysis of ester bonds and then diffused out of the hydrogel network, thus leading to significantly prolonged drug release. The self-cleaving release kinetics of camptothecin can be further tuned by pH. This DH-G3-CPT drug delivery system has both injectability and sustained drug release. It showed an excellent tumor inhibition effect following intratumoral injection in a head and neck cancer model of mouse.