Effect of Organic Solvents on a Production of PLGA-Based Drug- Loaded Nanoparticles Using a Microfluidic Device

The translation of nanoparticles (NPs) from laboratory to clinical settings is limited, which is not ideal. One of the reasons for this is that we currently have limited ability to precisely regulate various physicochemical parameters of nanoparticles. This has made it difficult to rapidly perform targeted screening of drug preparation conditions. In this study, we attempted to broaden the range of preparation conditions for particle size-modulated poly(lactic-co-glycolic-acid) (PLGA) NP to enhance their applicability for drug delivery systems (DDS). This was done using a variety of organic solvents and a glass-based microfluidic device. Furthermore, we compared the PDMS-based microfluidic device to the glass-based microfluidic device in terms of the possibility of a wider range of preparation conditions, especially the effect of different solvents on the size of the PLGA NPs. PLGA NPs with different sizes (sub-200 nm) were successfully prepared, and three different types of taxanes were employed for encapsulation. The drug-loaded NPs showed size-dependent cytotoxicity in cellular assays, regardless of the taxane drug used.

Automated summary

The translation of nanoparticles from laboratory to clinical settings is limited due to the current limited ability to precisely regulate various physicochemical parameters of nanoparticles. In this study, the range of preparation conditions for size-modulated PLGA nanoparticles was expanded using different organic solvents and a glass-based microfluidic device, aiming to enhance their applicability for drug delivery systems. The experimental results showed that PLGA nanoparticles of different sizes exhibited size-dependent cytotoxicity.