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Microfluidic encapsulation of nanoparticles in alginate microgels gelled via competitive ligand exchange crosslinking
Author(s) -
Cinel Victor Dal Posolo,
Taketa Thiago Bezerra,
Carvalho Bruna Gregatti,
Torre Lucimara Gaziola,
Mello Lucas Rodrigues,
Silva Emerson Rodrigo,
Han Sang Won
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.23432
Subject(s) - nanoparticle , dispersity , cell encapsulation , chemistry , nanotechnology , microfluidics , encapsulation (networking) , fluorescence microscope , chemical engineering , biophysics , fluorescence , materials science , polymer chemistry , self healing hydrogels , computer network , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , engineering , biology
Efficient delivery of nanometric vectors complexed with nanoparticles at a target tissue without spreading to other tissues is one of the main challenges in gene therapy. One means to overcome this problem is to confine such vectors within microgels that can be placed in a target tissue to be released slowly and locally. Herein, a conventional optical microscope coupled to a common smartphone was employed to monitor the microfluidic production of monodisperse alginate microgels containing nanoparticles as a model for the encapsulation of vectors. Alginate microgels (1.2%) exhibited an average diameter of 125 ± 3 μm, which decreased to 106 ± 5 μm after encapsulating 30 nm fluorescent nanoparticles. The encapsulation efficiency was 70.9 ± 18.9%. In a 0.1 M NaCl solution, 55 ± 5% and 92 ± 4.7% of nanoparticles were released in 30 minutes and 48 hours, respectively. Microgel topography assessment by atomic force microscopy revealed that incorporation of nanoparticles into the alginate matrix changes the scaffold's interfacial morphology and induces crystallization with the appearance of oriented domains. The high encapsulation rate of nanoparticles, alongside their continuous release of nanoparticles over time, makes these microgels and the production unit a valuable system for vector encapsulation for gene therapy research.