Strategies and Research Progress of Gelation Methods in Maintaining the Stability of Protein Drugs

Hongyan Fan; Pengfei Cui

doi:10.6919/ICJE.202511_11(11).0015

Authors

Hongyan Fan
Pengfei Cui

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6919/ICJE.202511_11(11).0015

Keywords:

Hydrogel; Protein; Stability; Gelation.

Abstract

Proteins are promising biotherapeutics that offer advantages such as higher specificity, greater activity, and lower toxicity compared to traditional small-molecule drugs. However, due to their complex structures, proteins are prone to degradation and denaturation, which affects the safety and efficacy of drugs. Over the past few decades, lyophilized formulations, liposomes, and polymer nanoparticles have been commonly used for drug delivery, but they have significant limitations. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel carriers to address these issues. This review summarizes the unique advantages of hydrogels in improving protein stability, as they effectively reduce protein aggregation, oxidation, and enzymatic degradation through mechanisms such as confinement effect, hydration regulation, and microenvironment optimization. Studies have shown that gel systems constructed based on natural/synthetic polymers have achieved key applications in vaccine sustained-release carriers, long-acting protein drugs, and tumor-targeted therapy.

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