The effect of PLGA nanoparticles on the adipogenic commitment of human mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Poly (Lactic-co-Glycolic) Acid (PLGA) is a widely used polymer that is approved to use in biomedical applications. Current studies try to incorporate the versatile nature of the polymer in the biomedical field as drug delivery vectors. This master’s thesis aimed at producing PLGA nanoparticles and determine if they have any effect on the adipogenesis from Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs). Nanoparticles were synthesised by an emulsification-solvent evaporation method which resulted in monodispersed particles with a hydrodynamic radius of 350 nm. The synthesised particles had a potential close to zero indicating of an unstable dispersion. After irradiation, the particles fragmented and aggregated forming both nano and micro sized agglomerates. When exposing the hMSCs to a range of concentrations of the sterilised PLGA nanoparticles, it was shown to have a short term toxicity on hMSCs, but no effect on adipogenesis was detected.