The temporal and quantitative control of the cargo release is a challenging issue in the application of hydrogels for cancer therapy. Here, we report hyaluronic acid hydrogel-based depot that provides ultrasound-triggered thermal elevation and on-demand cargo release. The hyaluronic acid hydrogel was developed by employing the gold cluster as a sonothermal crosslinker which was grown on the cargo to prevent its undesired leakage until ultrasound-induced dissociation. The results demonstrated that, in the presence of ultrasound at 30 W, the hyaluronic acid hydrogel significantly increased the temperature to 53.7 °C, leading to dissociation of gold clusters and subsequent cargo release. In addition, the prepared hydrogel exhibited appropriate mechanical properties and superior biostability as an injectable hydrogel for in vivo applications.
Keywords: Hyaluronic acid; Hydrogel; Ultrasound.
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