Non-Covalent Microgel Particles Containing Functional Payloads: Coacervation of PEG-Based Triblocks via Microfluidics

Recent Advances in Drug Delivery System Fabricated by Microfluidics for Disease Therapy

Traditional drug therapy faces challenges such as drug distribution throughout the body, rapid degradation and excretion, and extensive adverse reactions. In contrast, micro/nanoparticles can controllably deliver drugs to target sites to improve drug efficacy. Unlike traditional large-scale synthetic systems, microfluidics allows manipulation of fluids at the microscale and shows great potential in drug delivery and precision medicine. Well-designed microfluidic devices have been used to fabricate multifunctional drug carriers using stimuli-responsive materials. In this review, we first introduce the selection of materials and processing techniques for microfluidic devices. Then, various well-designed microfluidic chips are shown for the fabrication of multifunctional micro/nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles. Finally, we describe the interaction of drugs with lymphatic vessels that are neglected in organs-on-chips. Overall, the accelerated development of microfluidics holds great potential for the clinical translation of micro/nanoparticle drug delivery systems for disease treatment.

A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput

Cell encapsulation has been widely employed in cell therapy, characterization, and analysis, as well as many other biomedical applications. While droplet-based microfluidic technology is advantageous in cell microencapsulation because of its modularity, controllability, mild conditions, and easy operation when compared to other state-of-art methods, it faces the dilemma between high throughput and monodispersity of generated cell-laden microdroplets. In addition, the lack of a biocompatible method of de-emulsification transferring cell-laden hydrogel from cytotoxic oil phase into cell culture medium also hurtles the practical application of microfluidic technology. Here, a novel step-T-junction microchannel was employed to encapsulate cells into monodisperse microspheres at the high-throughput jetting regime. An alginate–gelatin co-polymer system was employed to enable the microfluidic-based fabrication of cell-laden microgels with mild cross-linking conditions and great biocompatibility, notably for the process of de-emulsification. The mechanical properties of alginate-gelatin hydrogel, e.g., stiffness, stress–relaxation, and viscoelasticity, are fully adjustable in offering a 3D biomechanical microenvironment that is optimal for the specific encapsulated cell type. Finally, the encapsulation of HepG2 cells into monodisperse alginate–gelatin microgels with the novel microfluidic system and the subsequent cultivation proved the maintenance of the long-term viability, proliferation, and functionalities of encapsulated cells, indicating the promising potential of the as-designed system in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Translating Therapeutic Microgels into Clinical Applications

Microgels are crosslinked, water-swollen networks with a 10 nm to 100 µm diameter and can be modified chemically or biologically to render them biocompatible for advanced clinical applications. Depending on their intended use, microgels require different mechanical and structural properties, which can be engineered on demand by altering the biochemical composition, crosslink density of the polymer network, and the fabrication method. Here, the fundamental aspects of microgel research and development, as well as their specific applications for theranostics and therapy in the clinic, are discussed. A detailed overview of microgel fabrication techniques with regards to their intended clinical application is presented, while focusing on how microgels can be employed as local drug delivery materials, scavengers, and contrast agents. Moreover, microgels can act as scaffolds for tissue engineering and regeneration application. Finally, an overview of microgels is given, which already made it into pre-clinical and clinical trials, while future challenges and chances are discussed. This review presents an instructive guideline for chemists, material scientists, and researchers in the biomedical field to introduce them to the fundamental physicochemical properties of microgels and guide them from fabrication methods via characterization techniques and functionalization of microgels toward specific applications in the clinic.

Multicompartment Hydrogels

Hydrogels belong to the most promising materials in polymer and materials science at the moment. As they feature soft and tissue-like character as well as high water-content, a broad range of applications are addressed with hydrogels, e.g. tissue engineering and wound dressings but also soft robotics, drug delivery, actuators and catalysis. Ways to tailor hydrogel properties are crosslinking mechanism, hydrogel shape and reinforcement, but new features can be introduced by variation of hydrogel composition as well, e.g. via monomer choice, functionalization or compartmentalization. Especially, multicompartment hydrogels drive progress towards complex and highly functional soft materials. In the present review the latest developments in multicompartment hydrogels are highlighted with a focus on three types of compartments, i.e. micellar/vesicular, droplets or multi-layers including various sub-categories. Furthermore, several morphologies of compartmentalized hydrogels and applications of multicompartment hydrogels will be discussed as well. Finally, an outlook towards future developments of the field will be given. The further development of multicompartment hydrogels is highly relevant for a broad range of applications and will have a significant impact on biomedicine and organic devices. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Microfluidic On-Chip Production of Alginate Hydrogels Using Double Coflow Geometry

Microfluidic on-chip production of microgels employing external gelation has numerous biological and pharmaceutical applications, particularly for the encapsulation of delicate cargos; however, the on-chip production of microgels in microfluidic devices can be challenging due to problems such as clogging caused by accelerated progress in precursor solution viscosity. Here, we introduce a novel microfluidic design incorporating two consecutive coflow geometries for microfluidic droplet generation. A shielding oil phase is employed to avoid emulsification and gelation stages from occurring simultaneously, thereby preventing clogging. The results revealed that the microfluidic device could generate highly monodispersed spherical droplets (coefficient of variation < 3%) with an average diameter in the range of 60-200 μm. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the device could appropriately create a shelter of the oil phase around the inner aqueous phase regardless of the droplet formation regime and flow conditions. The ability of the proposed microfluidic device in the generation of microgels was validated by producing alginate microgels utilizing an aqueous solution of calcium chloride as the continuous phase.

Microfluidic on-chip production of microgels using combined geometries

Microfluidic on-chip production of microgels using external gelation can serve numerous applications that involve encapsulation of sensitive cargos. Nevertheless, on-chip production of microgels in microfluidic devices can be challenging due to problems induced by the rapid increase in precursor solution viscosity like clogging. Here, a novel design incorporating a step, which includes a sudden increase in cross-sectional area, before a flow-focusing nozzle was proposed for microfluidic droplet generators. Besides, a shielding oil phase was utilized to avoid the occurrence of emulsification and gelation stages simultaneously. The step which was located before the flow-focusing nozzle facilitated the full shielding of the dispersed phase due to 3-dimensional fluid flow in this geometry. The results showed that the microfluidic device was capable of generating highly monodispersed spherical droplets (CV < 2% for step and CV < 5% for flow-focusing nozzle) with an average diameter in the range of 90-190 μm, both in step and flow-focusing nozzle. Moreover, it was proved that the device could adequately create a shelter for the dispersed phase regardless of the droplet formation locus. The ability of this microfluidic device in the production of microgels was validated by creating alginate microgels (with an average diameter of ~ 100 μm) through an external gelation process with on-chip calcium chloride emulsion in mineral oil.

Microfluidic Generation of Amino-Functionalized Hydrogel Microbeads Capable of On-Bead Bioassay

Microfluidic generation of hydrogel microbeads is a highly efficient and reproducible approach to create various functional hydrogel beads. Here, we report a method to prepare crosslinked amino-functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG) microbeads using a microfluidic channel. The microbeads generated from a microfluidic device were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and confocal laser scanning microscopy, respectively. We found that the microbeads were monodisperse and the amino groups were localized on the shell region of the microbeads. A swelling test exhibited compatibility with various solvents. A cell binding assay was successfully performed with RGD peptide-coupled amino-functionalized hydrogel microbeads. This strategy will enable the large production of the various functional microbeads, which can be used for solid phase peptide synthesis and on-bead bioassays.

Engineered borate ester conjugated protein-polymer nanoconjugates for pH-responsive drug delivery

To improve the clinical efficiency of cytotoxic anticancer drugs e.g. doxorubicin (DOX), reduce the severe off-target side effects, and allow the more biocompatible and biodegradable drug penetration into tumor cells, our research efforts developed a new DOX-conjugated protein polymer nanoconjugates (PPNCs) prodrugs delivery system. Briefly, DOX was conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the complex was treated with lactobionic acid (LA) as well as folic acid (FA) to enhance drug endocytosis and targeting selectivity. Such functionalized BSA could be conjugated with a designed phenylboronic acid functionalized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) via forming a pH-sensitive borate ester bond to give the functionalized PPNCs prodrugs. The potential of the PPNCs prodrugs on tumor cells therapy was systematically evaluated in dose/time-dependent effects. In vitro results showed a rapid accumulation of the prodrugs into the MDA-MB-231 tumor cell during the first 30 min and reached maximum at 24 h. Moreover, the cell-killing effect was observed quickly after 4 h incubation with an IC50 of 0.5 mg/mL (≈4 μM/L). In general, given the efficient pH-dependent DOX release of these constructed nanoconjugates, it is anticipated to contribute a potential delivery strategy for cancer therapy.

Recent Advances in Droplet-based Microfluidic Technologies for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Recently, droplet-based microfluidic systems have been widely used in various biochemical and molecular biological assays. Since this platform technique allows manipulation of large amounts of data and also provides absolute accuracy in comparison to conventional bioanalytical approaches, over the last decade a range of basic biochemical and molecular biological operations have been transferred to drop-based microfluidic formats. In this review, we introduce recent advances and examples of droplet-based microfluidic techniques that have been applied in biochemistry and molecular biology research including genomics, proteomics and cellomics. Their advantages and weaknesses in various applications are also comprehensively discussed here. The purpose of this review is to provide a new point of view and current status in droplet-based microfluidics to biochemists and molecular biologists. We hope that this review will accelerate communications between researchers who are working in droplet-based microfluidics, biochemistry and molecular biology.

Functional Microgels: Recent Advances in Their Biomedical Applications

Here, a spotlight is shown on aqueous microgel particles which exhibit a great potential for various biomedical applications such as drug delivery, cell imaging, and tissue engineering. Herein, different synthetic methods to develop microgels with desirable functionality and properties along with degradable strategies to ensure their renal clearance are briefly presented. A special focus is given on the ability of microgels to respond to various stimuli such as temperature, pH, redox potential, magnetic field, light, etc., which helps not only to adjust their physical and chemical properties, and degradability on demand, but also the release of encapsulated bioactive molecules and thus making them suitable for drug delivery. Furthermore, recent developments in using the functional microgels for cell imaging and tissue regeneration are reviewed. The results reviewed here encourage the development of a new class of microgels which are able to intelligently perform in a complex biological environment. Finally, various challenges and possibilities are discussed in order to achieve their successful clinical use in future.

Thermoadaptive Supramolecular α-Cyclodextrin Crystallization-Based Hydrogels via Double Hydrophilic Block Copolymer Templating

Supramolecular hydrogels play a prominent role in contemporary research of hydrophilic polymers. Especially, hydrogels based on α-cyclodextrin/poly(ethylene glycol) (α-CD/PEG) complexation and crystal formation are studied frequently. Here, the effect of double hydrophilic block copolymers (DHBCs) on α-CD/PEG hydrogel properties is investigated. Therefore, a novel DHBC, namely poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-b-poly(oligo ethylene glycol methacrylate) (PVP-b-POEGMA), was synthesized via a combination of reversible deactivation radical polymerization and modular conjugation methods. In the next step, hydrogel formation was studied after α-CD addition. Interestingly, DHBC-based hydrogels showed a significant response to thermal history. Heating of the gels to different temperatures led to different mechanical properties after cooling to ambient temperature, i.e., gels with mechanical properties similar to the initial gels or weak flowing gels were obtained. Thus, the hydrogels showed thermoadaptive behavior, which might be an interesting property for future applications in sensing.

Fabrication of antibody-loaded microgels using microfluidics and thiol-ene photoclick chemistry

Reducing burst effects, providing controlled release, and safeguarding biologics against degradation are a few of several highly attractive applications for microgels in the field of controlled release. However, the incorporation of proteins into microgels without impairing stability is highly challenging. In this proof of concept study, the combination of microfluidics and thiol-ene photoclick chemistry was evaluated for the fabrication of antibody-loaded microgels with narrow size distribution. Norbornene-modified eight-armed poly(ethylene glycol) with an average molecular mass of 10,000 Da, 20,000 Da, or 40,000 Da were prepared as macromonomers for microgel formation. For functionalization, either hydrolytically cleavable ester or stable amide bonds were used. A microfluidic system was employed to generate precursor solution droplets containing macromonomers, the cross-linker dithiothreitol and the initiator Eosin-Y. Irradiation with visible light was used to trigger thiol-ene reactions which covalently cross-linked the droplets. For all bond-types, molecular masses, and concentrations gelation was very rapid (<20 s) and a plateau for the complex shear modulus was reached after only 5 min. The generated microgels had a rod-like shape and did not show considerable cellular toxicity. Stress conditions during the fabrication process were simulated and it could be shown that fabrication did not impair the activity of the model proteins lysozyme and bevacizumab. It was confirmed that the average hydrogel network mesh size was similar or smaller than the hydrodynamic diameter of bevacizumab which is a crucial factor for restricting diffusion and delaying release. Finally, microgels were loaded with bevacizumab and a sustained release over a period of 30 ± 4 and 47 ± 7 days could be achieved in vitro.

Lanthanide-Organic Gels as a Multifunctional Supramolecular Smart Platform

A multifunctional smart supramolecular platform based on a lanthanide-organic hydrogel is presented. This platform, which provides unique biocompatibility and tunable optical properties, is synthesized by a simple, fast, and reproducible eco-friendly microwave-assisted route. Photoluminescent properties enable the production of coated light-emitting diodes (LED), unique luminescent barcodes dependent on the excitation wavelength and thin-films for use in tamper seals. Moreover, piroxicam entrapped in hydrogel acts as a transdermal drug release device efficient in inhibiting edemas as compared to a commercial reference.