Metal–Organic Framework and Biopolymer-Based Composite Hydrogel for Enhanced Encapsulation of Anticancer Drugs: A New Age Transdermal Drug Delivery Vehicle

The transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) is a promising and innovative approach to drug delivery because of its noninvasiveness, potential for localized and prolonged drug delivery, and ability to minimize systemic side effects by avoiding first-pass metabolism. Utilizing the distinctive characteristics of hydrogels, such as their biocompatibility, versatility in administration, and higher drug loading capabilities, herein, we develop a biocompatible hydrogel through synergistically interacting the biopolymer k-carrageenan (k-CG) and metal–organic framework (MOF) (zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8)) that can work as a TDDS. The resultant hydrogel showcased remarkable properties necessary for being the TDDS, including superior mechanical strength, self-healing capabilities, adhesiveness, and spreadability. Notably, this hydrogel exhibits a substantial drug loading capacity, specifically 64.16 mg/g of the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), with sustained release behavior of 71.8% within 72 h. The hydrogel demonstrated remarkable viability (∼95%) in MTT assays against HaCaT cells, indicating its excellent biocompatibility. The drug-loaded hydrogel effectively targeted TDDS, evidenced by in vitro cytotoxicity studies on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Additionally, the hydrogel exhibited efficient curcumin (Cur) loading at 18 mg/g without affecting its stability, showcasing notable antibacterial and antioxidant properties. These findings suggest the potential of the investigated system for cancer therapy and wound healing applications.