Coaxial Alginate Hydrogels: From Self-Assembled 3D Cellular Constructs to Long-Term Storage

Alginate as a versatile naturally occurring biomaterial has found widespread use in the biomedical field due to its unique features such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. The ability of its semipermeable hydrogels to provide a favourable microenvironment for clinically relevant cells made alginate encapsulation a leading technology for immunoisolation, 3D culture, cryopreservation as well as cell and drug delivery. The aim of this work is the evaluation of structural properties and swelling behaviour of the core-shell capsules for the encapsulation of multipotent stromal cells (MSCs), their 3D culture and cryopreservation using slow freezing. The cells were encapsulated in core-shell capsules using coaxial electrospraying, cultured for 35 days and cryopreserved. Cell viability, metabolic activity and cell–cell interactions were analysed. Cryopreservation of MSCs-laden core-shell capsules was performed according to parameters pre-selected on cell-free capsules. The results suggest that core-shell capsules produced from the low viscosity high-G alginate are superior to high-M ones in terms of stability during in vitro culture, as well as to solid beads in terms of promoting formation of viable self-assembled cellular structures and maintenance of MSCs functionality on a long-term basis. The application of 0.3 M sucrose demonstrated a beneficial effect on the integrity of capsules and viability of formed 3D cell assemblies, as compared to 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) alone. The proposed workflow from the preparation of core-shell capsules with self-assembled cellular structures to the cryopreservation appears to be a promising strategy for their off-the-shelf availability.     

软胶囊亮发素的制备

本文介绍了用明胶软胶囊包装的亮发素的配方和制备方法。在亮发素中含有低粘度液体石蜡油、精制橄榄油、精制茶籽油、精制沙棘籽油、棕榈酸异丙酯、肉豆蔻酸异丙酯、油酸乙酯、二甲基聚硅氧烷、维生素Ｅ和油溶性香料等成份。     

HG—AFS分析天然产品中微量元素

天然产品峰龄胶囊采用湿法[HNO3 HClO4(9 4)]消化,HGAFS分析其微量硒的含量,其线性范围为0.00～0.25mg/L,检出限为8.64×10-4mg/L,RSD<4%,回收率在98.2%～99.6%.     

Submicron capsules extracted from rapeseed as novel flocculant agents for the treatment of turbid water

Flocculation is an important step in water treatment as it is responsible for the separation of suspended solids and colloids. The currently used flocculants have certain limitations with respect to environmental impact and disposal as well as potentially being harmful to human health, which has encouraged the study of natural flocculants originating from oleaginous plants. Oil-bodies are individual small organelles in which oleaginous seeds store triacylglycerols reserves. In this article, the flocculant properties of oil-bodies have been investigated. Oil-bodies flocculate at pH 5, 7 and 9 and high ionic strength (100 mM NaCl) and it was demonstrated that their intact structure is necessary for the flocculation activity as treatment with protease K and diethyl ether, that remove the protein coat and the oil-core, respectively, dramatically decreased the flocculation activity. This study shows that oil-bodies have the potential to be novel, natural, sustainable, environmentally friendly and biodegradable flocculant candidates for water treatment.     

肠靶向海藻酸钙基微胶囊的制备及控释性能研究

利用毛细管共挤出技术结合静电吸附和仿生硅化的方法,制备了海藻酸钙-壳聚糖/精蛋白/二氧化硅(ACPSi)复合微胶囊。ACPSi复合微胶囊的平均粒径约3.18 mm,单分散性好,囊壁最外层的二氧化硅层可抑制其在肠液pH环境中的溶胀,增强囊的机械稳定性。将羟丙甲基纤维素邻苯二甲酸酯(HPMCP)肠溶微球作为释药“微阀门”,嵌入囊壁可以更好地控制微胶囊的释药行为。以吲哚美辛为模型药物,当药物浓度为22.5 mg/ml时,ACPSi载药微胶囊在pH 2.5模拟胃液中3 h时累计释药率仅为0.33%,而转移至pH 6.8模拟肠液中19 h时累计释药率为77.78%;囊壁嵌入HPMCP微球后,22 h时累计释药率可提高约4%。因此,该复合微胶囊具有良好的肠靶向作用和控释特性,作为口服肠靶向缓控释制剂具有良好的应用前景。     

高效液相色谱法测定纳豆胶囊中的葛根素

建立了富含葛根素的纳豆胶囊中葛根素的高效液相色谱分析方法。样品经过体积分数70%的甲醇提取后,采用ZORBAX ODS C18（5 μm, 4.6 mm×200 mm)色谱柱分离,以甲醇-36%乙酸-水（25∶3∶72）为流动相进行洗脱,流速1.0 mL/min,紫外检测波长247 nm。结果表明,葛根素在0～1 000 mg/L范围内线性关系良好（R2=0.999 4）,检出限是0.005 mg/g。在10 mg/g、20 mg/g、30 mg/g添加水平下葛根素的平均回收率为99.5%～104.5%,相对标准偏差为3.8%。该方法简单快速、回收率高、准确性好,可用于富含葛根素的纳豆胶囊中葛根素含量分析。     

Toward Scalable Fabrication of Hierarchical Silica Capsules with Integrated Micro‐, Meso‐, and Macropores

Hierarchical porous structures are ubiquitous in biological organisms and inorganic systems. Although such structures have been replicated, designed, and fabricated, they are often inferior to naturally occurring analogues. Apart from the complexity and multiple functionalities developed by the biological systems, the controllable and scalable production of hierarchically porous structures and building blocks remains a technological challenge. Herein, a facile and scalable approach is developed to fabricate hierarchical hollow spheres with integrated micro‐, meso‐, and macropores ranging from 1 nm to 100 μm (spanning five orders of magnitude). (Macro)molecules, micro‐rods (which play a key role for the creation of robust capsules), and emulsion droplets have been successfully employed as multiple length scale templates, allowing the creation of hierarchical porous macrospheres. Thanks to their specific mechanical strength, these hierarchical porous spheres could be incorporated and assembled as higher level building blocks in various novel materials.     

Monodisperse Polymer Capsules: Tailoring Size,Shell Thickness,and Hydrophobic Cargo Loading via Emulsion Templating

The preparation of monodisperse polymer (polydopamine, PDA) capsules by a one‐step interfacial polymerization of dopamine onto dimethyldiethoxysilane (DMDES) emulsion droplets and removal of the DMDES templates with ethanol is reported. The diameters of the PDA capsules can be tailored from 400 nm to 2.4 µm by varying either the DMDES emulsion condensation time or the emulsion concentration used for templating. Further, capsules with defined nanometer‐scale shell thicknesses (ranging from ～10 to 30 nm) can be prepared by adjusting the emulsion concentration. This shell thickness can be increased by repeated interfacial polymerization of dopamine, with three cycles yielding capsules with a shell thickness of up to 140 nm (for a 0.6% v/v suspension). Functional substances, such as organically stabilized magnetic (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles, quantum dots (CdSe/CdS), and hydrophobic drugs (thiocoraline), can be preloaded in the emulsion droplets, and following PDA coating and DMDES removal, these materials remain encapsulated in the polymer capsules. All of the unloaded and loaded PDA capsules are monodisperse and do not aggregate. This work provides new avenues for the preparation of polymer capsules with defined size and shell thickness and for the encapsulation of a range of hydrophobic substances.