Nanoparticles have been used in various biomedical applications including drug delivery. Particle size influences critical factors such as cellular uptake and drug release. However, the current laboratory protocol for poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) particle synthesis yields a broad particle size distribution, leading to inconsistent results. Here we developed a protocol to isolate particles of various sizes and assessed the relation between particle size and its drug release kinetics. Particles were synthesized using the double emulsion method and separated by size via centrifugation. Using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), we verified that particles were separated into 50 nm increments using the newly developed method. Preliminary data show that smaller particles display a higher drug release at early timepoints than larger particles. In addition, we also observed that same-size particles with higher Molecular Weight (MW) exhibit a slower drug release. These findings improve particle synthesis and expand our ability to tune particle properties. We are currently investigating the effect of particle size, and therefore drug release kinetics, in macrophage phenotype using Drug 1, a potent anti-inflammatory drug as the cargo.
