Microparticles have a demonstrated value for drug delivery systems. The attempts to develop this tech- nology focus on the generation of featured microparticles for improving the function of the systems. Here, we pres...Microparticles have a demonstrated value for drug delivery systems. The attempts to develop this tech- nology focus on the generation of featured microparticles for improving the function of the systems. Here, we present a new type of microparticles with gelatin methacrylate （GelMa） cores and poly（L-lactide-co-glycolide） （PLGA） shells for syn- ergistic and sustained drug delivery applications. The mi- croparticles were fabricated by using GelMa aqueous solu- tion and PLGA oil solution as the raw materials of the mi- croflnidic double emulsion templates, in which hydrophilic and hydrophobic actives, such as doxorubicin hydrochloride （DOX, hydrophilic） and camptothecine （CPT, hydrophobic）, could be loaded respectively. As the inner cores were poly- merized in the microfluidics when the double emulsions were formed, the hydrophilic actives could be trapped in the cores with high efficiency, and the rupture or fusion of the cores could be avoided during the solidification of the micropar- ticle shells with other actives. The size and component of the microparticles can be easily and precisely adjusted by ma- nipulating the flow solutions during the microfluidic emulsi- fication. Because of the solid structure of the resultant mi- croparticles, the encapsulated actives were released from the delivery systems only with the degradation of the biopolymer layers, and thus the burst release of the actives was avoided. These features of the microparticles make them ideal for drug delivery applications.展开更多
The fabrication of functional microcarriers capable of achieving in vivo-like three-dimensional cell culture is important for many tissue engineering applications. Here,inspired by the structure of Buddha beads, which...The fabrication of functional microcarriers capable of achieving in vivo-like three-dimensional cell culture is important for many tissue engineering applications. Here,inspired by the structure of Buddha beads, which are generally composed of moveable beads strung on a rope, we present novel cell microcarriers with controllable macropores and heterogeneous microstructures by using a capillary array microfluidic technology. Microfibers with a string of moveable and releasable microcarriers could be achieved by an immediate gelation reaction of sodium alginate spinning and subsequent polymerization of cell-dispersed gelatin methacrylate emulsification. The sizes of the microcarriers and their inner macropores could be well tailored by adjusting the flow rates of the microfluidic phases; this was of great importance in guaranteeing a sufficient supply of nutrients during cell culture. In addition, by infusing multiple cell-dispersed pregel solutions into the capillaries, the microcarriers with spatially heterogeneous cell encapsulations for mimicking physiological structures and functions could also be achieved.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21473029 and 51522302) the NSAF Foundation of China (U1530260)+4 种基金the National Science Foundation of Jiangsu (BK20140028) the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Universitythe Scientific Research Foundation of Southeast UniversityFoundation of Jiangsu Cancer Hospital (ZN201609)Beijing Medical Award Foundation (YJHYXKYJJ-433)
文摘Microparticles have a demonstrated value for drug delivery systems. The attempts to develop this tech- nology focus on the generation of featured microparticles for improving the function of the systems. Here, we present a new type of microparticles with gelatin methacrylate （GelMa） cores and poly（L-lactide-co-glycolide） （PLGA） shells for syn- ergistic and sustained drug delivery applications. The mi- croparticles were fabricated by using GelMa aqueous solu- tion and PLGA oil solution as the raw materials of the mi- croflnidic double emulsion templates, in which hydrophilic and hydrophobic actives, such as doxorubicin hydrochloride （DOX, hydrophilic） and camptothecine （CPT, hydrophobic）, could be loaded respectively. As the inner cores were poly- merized in the microfluidics when the double emulsions were formed, the hydrophilic actives could be trapped in the cores with high efficiency, and the rupture or fusion of the cores could be avoided during the solidification of the micropar- ticle shells with other actives. The size and component of the microparticles can be easily and precisely adjusted by ma- nipulating the flow solutions during the microfluidic emulsi- fication. Because of the solid structure of the resultant mi- croparticles, the encapsulated actives were released from the delivery systems only with the degradation of the biopolymer layers, and thus the burst release of the actives was avoided. These features of the microparticles make them ideal for drug delivery applications.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21473029 and 51522302)the NSAF Foundation of China(U1530260)+3 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu(BK20140028)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Universitythe Scientific Research Foundation of Southeast Universitythe Scientific Research Foundation of Graduate School of Southeast University
文摘The fabrication of functional microcarriers capable of achieving in vivo-like three-dimensional cell culture is important for many tissue engineering applications. Here,inspired by the structure of Buddha beads, which are generally composed of moveable beads strung on a rope, we present novel cell microcarriers with controllable macropores and heterogeneous microstructures by using a capillary array microfluidic technology. Microfibers with a string of moveable and releasable microcarriers could be achieved by an immediate gelation reaction of sodium alginate spinning and subsequent polymerization of cell-dispersed gelatin methacrylate emulsification. The sizes of the microcarriers and their inner macropores could be well tailored by adjusting the flow rates of the microfluidic phases; this was of great importance in guaranteeing a sufficient supply of nutrients during cell culture. In addition, by infusing multiple cell-dispersed pregel solutions into the capillaries, the microcarriers with spatially heterogeneous cell encapsulations for mimicking physiological structures and functions could also be achieved.
