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The precise size control of the lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based nanodrug delivery system (DDS) carriers, such as 10 nm size tuning of LNPs, is one major challenge for the development of next-generation nanomedicines. Size-controlled LNPs would realize size-selective tumor targeting and deliver DNA and RNA to target tumor tissues effectively by passing through the stromal cells. Herein, we developed a baffle mixer device named the invasive lipid nanoparticle production device, or iLiNP device for short, which has a simple two-dimensional microchannel and mixer structure, and we achieved the first reported LNP size tuning at 10 nm intervals in the size range from 20 to 100 nm. In comparison with the conventional LNP preparation methods and reported micromixer devices, our iLiNP device showed better LNP size controllability, robustness of device design, and LNP productivity. Furthermore, we prepared 80 nm sized LNPs with encapsulated small interfering RNA (siRNA) using the iLiNP device; these LNPs effectively performed as nano-DDS carriers in an in vivo experiment. We expect iLiNP devices will become novel apparatuses for LNP production in nano-DDS applications.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) or liposomes are the most widely used drug carriers for nanomedicines. The size of LNPs is one of the essential factors affecting drug delivery efficiency and therapeutic efficiency. Here, we demonstrated the effect of lipid concentration and mixing performance on the LNP size using microfluidic devices with the aim of understanding the LNP formation mechanism and controlling the LNP size precisely. We fabricated microfluidic devices with different depths, 11 μm and 31 μm, of their chaotic micromixer structures. According to the LNP formation behavior results, by using a low concentration of the lipid solution and the microfluidic device equipped with the 31 μm chaotic mixer structures, we were able to produce the smallest-sized LNPs yet with a narrow particle size distribution. We also evaluated the mixing rate of the microfluidic devices using a laser scanning confocal microscopy and we estimated the critical ethanol concentration for controlling the LNP size. The critical ethanol concentration range was estimated to be 60–80% ethanol. Ten nanometer-sized tuning of LNPs was achieved for the optimum residence time at the critical concentration using the microfluidic devices with chaotic mixer structures. The residence times at the critical concentration necessary to control the LNP size were 10, 15–25, and 50 ms time-scales for 30, 40, and 50 nm-sized LNPs, respectively. Finally, we proposed the LNP formation mechanism based on the determined LNP formation behavior and the critical ethanol concentration. The precise size-controlled LNPs produced by the microfluidic devices are expected to become carriers for next generation nanomedicines and they will lead to new and effective approaches for cancer treatment.

Nano-sized metal particles are attracting much interest in industrial and biomedical applications due to the recent progress and development of nanotechnology, and the surface-modifications by appropriate polymers are key techniques to stably express their characteristics. Herein, we applied cyclic poly(ethylene glycol) (c-PEG), having no chemical inhomogeneity, to provide a polymer topology-dependent stabilization for the surface-modification of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through physisorption. By simply mixing c-PEG, but not linear counterparts, enables AuNPs to maintain dispersibility through freezing, lyophilization, or heating. Surprisingly, c-PEG endowed AuNPs with even better dispersion stability than thiolated PEG (HS–PEG–OMe). The stronger affinity of c-PEG was confirmed by DLS, ζ-potential, and FT-IR. Furthermore, the c-PEG system exhibited prolonged blood circulation and enhanced tumor accumulation in mice. Our data suggests that c-PEG induces physisorption on AuNPs, supplying sufficient stability toward bio-medical applications, and would be an alternative approach to the gold–sulfur chemisorption.

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