Tuneable spheroidal hydrogel particles for cell and drug encapsulation

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Drug Delivery Systems

Background:

• Mimicking native tissues is crucial for advancements in tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery.
• Developing new platforms for cell and drug encapsulation requires understanding material system geometry's influence.
• Investigating the impact of surface area and particle shape on drug release and cell viability is a growing research area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel method for producing spheroidal hydrogel particles with adjustable circularity.
• To investigate how increased surface area and varying particle shape affect drug release and cell viability.
• To tune drug delivery using precisely shaped hydrogel particles.

Main Methods:

• Hydrogel precursor droplets were squeezed between superamphiphobic surfaces with varying spacer heights.
• Photo-crosslinking was used to solidify the hydrogel particles into their acquired shapes.
• Numerical modeling was employed to study droplet deformation and drug release rates, validated by experimental results.

Main Results:

• A novel method successfully produced spheroidal hydrogel particles from methacrylated chitosan under mild conditions.
• Spheroidal particles exhibited a higher surface area to volume ratio compared to spherical particles.
• Encapsulated cells showed improved viability in spheroids due to enhanced nutrient diffusion, and drug release rates were significantly faster.

Conclusions:

• The developed method allows for the manufacture of spheroidal particles with tailored geometry.
• These particles offer enhanced cell viability and accelerated drug release, outperforming spherical counterparts.
• The tunable spheroidal hydrogel particles have broad applications in drug delivery and cell encapsulation platforms.