Development of PLGA micro- and nanorods with high capacity of surface ligand conjugation for enhanced targeted delivery

In this study, we prepared anisotropic PLGA nanoparticles with abundant conjugatable surface functional groups by a film stretching-based fabrication method with poly (ethylene-alt-maleic acid) (PEMA). Scanning electron microscopy images showed that microrods and nanorods were successfully fabricated by the PEMA-based film stretching method. The presence of surface carboxylic acid groups was confirmed by confocal microscopy and zeta potential measurements. Using the improved film-stretching method, the amount of protein conjugated to the surface of nanorods was increased three-fold. Transferrin-conjugated, nanorods fabricated by the improved method exhibited higher binding and internalization than unmodified counterparts. Therefore, the PEMA-based film-stretching system presented in this study would be a promising fabrication method for non-spherical biodegradable polymeric micro- and nanoparticles with high capacity of surface modifications for enhanced targeted delivery.Graphical abstract
Source: Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research