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Injectable bioresorbable conductive hydrogels for multimodal brain tumor electroimmunotherapy

Yadav, Amit Singh LU ; Aydemir, Umut LU orcid ; Hellman, Karin LU ; Ekström, Peter LU ; Mousa, Abdelrazek H LU ; Li, Jiaxin LU ; Shameem, Muhammad Anwar LU ; Dicko, Cedric LU orcid ; Bengzon, Johan LU and Ek, Fredrik LU orcid , et al. (2025) In Nature Communications 16(1).
Abstract

Current electrode technologies are too rigid for safe and effective delivery of electrotherapy in the brain, and patients with glioblastoma continue to face a devastating prognosis, with median survival stalled at 15 months despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But these conventional approaches potentially compromise immune function, underscoring the urgent need for therapies that activate, rather than suppress, the immune system. Therefore, we introduce injectable conductive hydrogels engineered to match the softness of brain tissue while exhibiting electrical conductivities up to three orders of magnitude higher than any previously reported injectable hydrogels. They can be implanted through minimally... (More)

Current electrode technologies are too rigid for safe and effective delivery of electrotherapy in the brain, and patients with glioblastoma continue to face a devastating prognosis, with median survival stalled at 15 months despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But these conventional approaches potentially compromise immune function, underscoring the urgent need for therapies that activate, rather than suppress, the immune system. Therefore, we introduce injectable conductive hydrogels engineered to match the softness of brain tissue while exhibiting electrical conductivities up to three orders of magnitude higher than any previously reported injectable hydrogels. They can be implanted through minimally invasive syringe capillaries as narrow as 30 µm-avoiding brain tissue damage-and via convection-enhanced delivery (CED) or endovascular catheters, the latter potentially eliminating the need for open brain surgery. Additionally, it can drape a resection cavity to eliminate residual tumor cells. In human glioblastoma tumors in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane model, implantation of the electrode using CED, followed by irreversible electroporation, obliterated tumors within three days. Other injection techniques impaired tumor growth, induced immunogenic cell death, and a robust infiltration of helper and cytotoxic T cells, alongside macrophages, highlighting the immune-activating and tumor-targeting capabilities.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Hydrogels/chemistry, Animals, Brain Neoplasms/therapy, Humans, Glioblastoma/therapy, Immunotherapy/methods, Cell Line, Tumor, Electric Conductivity, Injections, Electrochemotherapy/methods, Chick Embryo, Chickens, Mice, Combined Modality Therapy, Electroporation, Cancer therapy, Materials science
in
Nature Communications
volume
16
issue
1
article number
9702
pages
12 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:41184309
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-025-65785-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2025. The Author(s).
id
e5812ebc-0237-463e-9b40-4f36efdcec98
date added to LUP
2025-11-12 16:22:15
date last changed
2025-11-14 15:14:39
@article{e5812ebc-0237-463e-9b40-4f36efdcec98,
  abstract     = {{<p>Current electrode technologies are too rigid for safe and effective delivery of electrotherapy in the brain, and patients with glioblastoma continue to face a devastating prognosis, with median survival stalled at 15 months despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But these conventional approaches potentially compromise immune function, underscoring the urgent need for therapies that activate, rather than suppress, the immune system. Therefore, we introduce injectable conductive hydrogels engineered to match the softness of brain tissue while exhibiting electrical conductivities up to three orders of magnitude higher than any previously reported injectable hydrogels. They can be implanted through minimally invasive syringe capillaries as narrow as 30 µm-avoiding brain tissue damage-and via convection-enhanced delivery (CED) or endovascular catheters, the latter potentially eliminating the need for open brain surgery. Additionally, it can drape a resection cavity to eliminate residual tumor cells. In human glioblastoma tumors in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane model, implantation of the electrode using CED, followed by irreversible electroporation, obliterated tumors within three days. Other injection techniques impaired tumor growth, induced immunogenic cell death, and a robust infiltration of helper and cytotoxic T cells, alongside macrophages, highlighting the immune-activating and tumor-targeting capabilities.</p>}},
  author       = {{Yadav, Amit Singh and Aydemir, Umut and Hellman, Karin and Ekström, Peter and Mousa, Abdelrazek H and Li, Jiaxin and Shameem, Muhammad Anwar and Dicko, Cedric and Bengzon, Johan and Ek, Fredrik and Hjort, Martin and Olsson, Roger}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  keywords     = {{Hydrogels/chemistry; Animals; Brain Neoplasms/therapy; Humans; Glioblastoma/therapy; Immunotherapy/methods; Cell Line, Tumor; Electric Conductivity; Injections; Electrochemotherapy/methods; Chick Embryo; Chickens; Mice; Combined Modality Therapy; Electroporation; Cancer therapy; Materials science}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Injectable bioresorbable conductive hydrogels for multimodal brain tumor electroimmunotherapy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65785-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-025-65785-x}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}