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Assembling Alkaline-Responsive Chitosan@Giant Liposomes through an Ultrasound-Integrated Microfluidic Approach
Mengting Lv1,2, Huanan Li1,2, Hua Cao1,2
1The State Key Laboratory of Ultrasound in Medicine and Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, P. R. China.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|March 4, 2022
Summary
This study introduces chitosan@giant liposome (CS-GL) drug carriers fabricated using microfluidics and ultrasound. These carriers offer rapid, pH-triggered drug release in alkaline environments, ideal for targeted therapies.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Engineering
- Drug Delivery Systems
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Developing stimuli-responsive drug carriers is crucial for targeted therapy.
- Giant liposomes (GLs) offer large payload capacity but often lack stability and controlled release.
- Chitosan is a biocompatible polymer with pH-responsive properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate and characterize a novel alkaline-responsive drug carrier, chitosan@giant liposome (CS-GL).
- To investigate the pH-triggered drug release mechanism of CS-GL.
- To evaluate the stability and drug encapsulation efficiency of the CS-GL system.
Main Methods:
- Ultrasound-integrated microfluidic approach for droplet preparation and giant liposome (GL) self-assembly.
- Electrostatic interaction for coating chitosan onto GLs to form CS-GLs.
- Characterization of CS-GL size, ζ potential, drug encapsulation efficiency, and stability at different pH levels.
Main Results:
- Monodispersed CS-GLs with a diameter of 54.1 ± 0.7 μm were successfully fabricated.
- High drug encapsulation efficiency of approximately 96% was achieved.
- CS-GLs maintained structural integrity in acidic conditions (pH 1.2) but rapidly released drugs (99.6% within 10 min) in alkaline conditions (pH 7.8) due to chitosan precipitation.
Conclusions:
- The ultrasound-assisted microfluidic method is effective for fabricating stable, alkaline-responsive CS-GL drug carriers.
- CS-GL demonstrates excellent pH-triggered drug release capabilities, with rapid release in alkaline environments.
- This system holds significant potential for targeted drug delivery applications requiring precise release control.
