Preparation and mineralization of a biocompatible double network hydrogel.

Double network (DN) hydrogels have shown favorable toughness and strength and been harnessed as scaffolding materials in tissue engineering, particularly, mineralized DN hydrogels may be potential scaffolds in bone tissue engineering. In this paper, DN hydrogels were fabricated from poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and methacrylated poly(γ-glutamic acid) (mPGA). This DN hydrogel not only showed excellent mechanical properties but also good cytocompatibility as evidenced by the characterizations in terms of swelling ratio, mechanical strength/modulus, and cytotoxicity. Further, the DN hydrogels were subjected to mineralization in simulated body fluid, during which hydroxyapatite or analogues formed within the DN hydrogels; the DN hydrogels may be potentially harnessed as bone tissue engineering scaffold.

Near-infrared Light Responsive Polymeric Nanocomposites for Cancer Therapy.

Inorganic nanoparticles, which can absorb and convert near infrared (NIR) light to heat to ablate cancer cells, have been widely investigated in photothermal therapy. However, the inherent poor solubility and acute systemic toxicity of these inorganic particles hinder their application in clinical practice. Polymeric nanocomposites materials containing both inorganic nanoparticles and polymers could be harnessed to achieve enhanced photothermal therapeutic effect as well as improved biocompatibility and multi-responsiveness. Synergistic chemo-photothermal efficacy towards cancer cells and tumor tissue can thus be realized through such multi-functional and multi-responsive polymeric nanocomposites. In this review, the recent developments in polymeric nanocomposites based on different types of inorganic nanoparticles (i.e. gold, carbon nanotube, graphene, and upconversion nanoparticles) for NIR-triggered cancer therapy are summarized.