Issue 57, 2019

Microfluidic synthesis of PLGA/carbon quantum dot microspheres for vascular endothelial growth factor delivery

Abstract

In this study, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) loaded poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) – carbon quantum dot microspheres were produced using microfluidic platforms. The microcapsules were fabricated in flow-focusing geometry with a biphasic flow to generate solid/oil/water (s–o–w) droplets. To avoid any damage to protein functional and structural stability during the encapsulation process, the VEGF was PEGylated. The produced microspheres were intact and highly monodisperse in size (CV < 5%). Furthermore, microspheres in a size range of 16–36 µm were achieved by adjusting the flow ratio parameter. The encapsulation efficiency, release profile, and bioactivity of the produced microparticles were also studied. The loading efficiency of PEGylated VEGF in the microparticles was varied from 51–69% and more than 90% of PEGylated VEGF was released within 28 days. Furthermore, the release of VEGF was indirectly monitored by carbon quantum dots. The present monodisperse and controllable VEGF loaded microspheres with reproducible manner could be widely used in tissue engineering and therapeutic applications.

Graphical abstract: Microfluidic synthesis of PLGA/carbon quantum dot microspheres for vascular endothelial growth factor delivery

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Aug 2019
Accepted
08 Oct 2019
First published
17 Oct 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 33246-33256

Microfluidic synthesis of PLGA/carbon quantum dot microspheres for vascular endothelial growth factor delivery

M. Omidi, M. Hashemi and L. Tayebi, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 33246 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA06279C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements