A method to tune the shape of protein-encapsulated polymeric microspheres

Protein encapsulation technologies of polymeric microspheres currently in use have been optimized to effectively protect their "protein cargo" from inactivation occurring in biological environments, preserving its bioactivity during release up to several weeks. The scenario of protein delivery would greatly benefit by strategies enabling the production of non-spherical particles. Herein we report an easy and effective stamp-based method to produce poly-lactic-glycolic-acid (PLGA) microparticles encapsulating Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) of different shapes. We demonstrate that PLGA microspheres can be deformed at room temperature exploiting solvent/non-solvent plasticization in order to preserve the properties of the starting microspheres. This gentle method allows the production of shaped particles that provide a prolonged release of VEGF in active form, as verified by an angiogenic assay. The retention of the biological activity of an extremely labile molecule, i.e. VEGF, lets us hypothesize that a wide variety of drug and protein encapsulated polymeric microspheres can be processed using this method.