Stimulus-responsive drug delivery systems have been widely used for many biomedical applications. Magnetic stimulation may serve as an important external stimulus for
drug delivery. In this study, we hypothesized that the on-demand release of anticancer drugs could be achieved with a macroporous
alginate ferrogel under the influence of magnetic stimulation to enhance therapeutic efficacy in a
tumor-bearing mouse model. A ferrogel containing
alginate, iron oxide nanoparticle, and
gelatin particle was prepared by ionic crosslinking with
calcium ions and dissolving the
gelatin particle at 37 °C. We investigated the influence of porosity on the degree of deformation of
alginate ferrogel and evaluated the release behavior of
doxorubicin (DOX) by applying magnetic field to the ferrogel. In vitro viability of
cancer cells cultured with DOX-releasing macroporous
alginate ferrogel after magnetic stimulation was greatly decreased compared to that of cells cultured with
alginate ferrogel. The therapeutic efficacy of DOX-releasing macroporous
alginate ferrogel also increased in
tumor-bearing mice following magnetic stimulation. Thus, this approach to design a ferrogel responsive to magnetic stimulation may prove useful for the development of smart drug delivery systems.