Using mechanobiological mimicry of red blood cells to extend circulation times of hydrogel microparticles

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1010013108
• Publication Date: 2011-01-11T04:55:41Z
• Authors: Timothy J. Merkel; Stephen W. Jones; Kevin P. Herlihy; Farrell R. Kersey; Adam R. Shields; Mary Napier; J. Christopher Luft; Huali Wu; William C. Zamboni; Andrew Z. Wang; James E. Bear; Joseph M. DeSimone
• Keywords: Biodistribution; Elasticity; Microparticle

It has long been hypothesized that elastic modulus governs the biodistribution and circulation times of particles cells in blood; however, this notion never rigorously tested. We synthesized hydrogel microparticles with tunable elasticity physiological range, which resemble red blood size shape, tested their behavior vivo. Decreasing these altered properties, allowing them to bypass several organs, such as lung, entrapped more rigid counterparts, resulting increasingly longer well past those conventional microparticles. An 8-fold decrease correlated a greater than 30-fold increase elimination phase half-life for particles. These results demonstrate critical design parameter