Design, production and characterization of polymeric microparticles containing vitamins for in vitro cell treatment on lab-on-a-chip

A new lab-on-a-chip prototype, recently described, thanks to the use of integrated circuit technology, can generate dielectrophoretic fields that immobilize and allow the control of single biological objects, such as cells, liposomes, or microspheres immersed in a liquid overhanging and in contact with the same chip. With the aim to design and produce polymeric microparticles for specific lab-on-a-chip applications, in the present paper the preparation and characterization of microparticles based on cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate plus other cellulosic polymers is described by a solvent evaporation procedure. In particular the following aspects were investigated: (a) the polymer solubilities, (b) the experimental parameters used for the solvent evaporation procedure, (c) the effect of dyes on the microparticle preparation and morphology, (d) the entrapment efficiency of the vitamins (D3 and E) and, finally, (e) the release kinetics of vitamins from cellulosic microparticles. Nedavno opisan nov prototip "laboratorijskog cipa" koji moze, zahvaljujuci koriscenju integrisane zaoukruzene tehnologije, da generise dielektroforetska polja koja imaju sposobnost imobilizacije i kontrole pojedinacnih bioloskih materijala, kao sto su celije, lipozomi, ili mikrosfere uronjene u tecnost iznad i u kontaktu sa samim cipom. Postupkom isparavanja rastvaraca u ovom radu je opisana priprema i karakterizacija celulozno acetatnih mikrokapsula, kao i mikrokapsula nacinjenih od celuloznog acetata u kombinaciji sa drugim celuloznim polimerima u cilju dizajniranja i proizvodnje polimernih mikrocestica za specificnu primenu "laboratorijskog cipa". Posebno su ispitivani sledeci aspekti: (a) rastvorljivost polimera, (b) eksperimentalni parametri korisceni u postupku isparavanja rastvaraca, (c) efekti boja na morfologiju i formiranje cestica (d) efikasnost inkapsulacije vitamina (D3 i E) i na kraju (e) kinetika oslobadjanja vitamina iz celuloznih mikrocestica.