Department of Mechanical Engineering, Biomaterials Research Laboratory, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1 7JE, UK.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2013 Nov 1;409:245-54. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2013.07.033. Epub 2013 Jul 30.
Control over the size and morphology of polymeric carriers for drug delivery systems is essential to optimize their functionality. In the current study, we demonstrate the feasibility of using an electrohydrodynamic process with a triple-needle device to prepare nearly mono-dispersed, spherical, tri-layered sub-micron particles. Three biocompatible polymer solutions of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), polycaprolactone (PCL) and polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ) were used to prepare particles with three distinct layers. Optimized particles were shown to be spherical with an average size ranging from 320 nm (±80 nm) to 220 (±8 nm), which varied with a change in the working distance in the electrohydrodynamic processing. The surface and internal structure and morphology were studied using confocal, transmission and scanning electron microscopy combined with focused ion beam sectioning. Cytotoxicity was shown to be negligible in an in vitro assay. The ability to fabricate such multilayered particles in a single step, under ambient conditions has considerable potential for a range of applications in particular controlled release drug delivery system.
控制药物传递系统中聚合物载体的大小和形态对于优化其功能至关重要。在当前的研究中，我们展示了使用具有三针头装置的电动力学过程制备几乎单分散的、球形的、三层亚微米颗粒的可行性。三种生物相容性聚合物溶液，聚（乳酸-共-乙醇酸）（PLGA）、聚己内酯（PCL）和聚甲基倍半硅氧烷（PMSQ），用于制备具有三个不同层的颗粒。优化后的颗粒呈球形，平均粒径范围从 320nm（±80nm）到 220nm（±8nm），这与电动力学处理中的工作距离变化有关。使用共聚焦、透射和扫描电子显微镜结合聚焦离子束切片研究了表面和内部结构及形态。体外试验表明细胞毒性可以忽略不计。在环境条件下，以一步法制备这种多层颗粒具有很大的潜力，特别适用于控制释放药物传递系统。
