Electrospraying magnetic-fluorescent bifunctional Janus PLGA microspheres with dual rare earth ions fluorescent-labeling drugs

Abstract

Magnetic-fluorescent bifunctional microspheres as a drug delivery system (DDS) possess magnetic targeting and fluorescent tracing capabilities simultaneously. The fluorescent intensity of DDS is weakened by magnetic particles, however; the fluorescent tracing of a drug cannot be achieved completely due to the separation of drug and fluorescent materials. In this study, we prepared a benzimidazole (Bim) fluorescent-labeling drug with dual rare earth (RE) ions as EuLa₃(Bim)₁₂ to increase the accuracy of tracing and fluorescent intensity. The electrospraying method with dual parallel spinnerets was used to produce Janus polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) microspheres with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and the fluorescent-labeling drug EuLa₃(Bim)₁₂ in separate chambers. Analysis results revealed that [PLGA/EuLa₃(Bim)₁₂]//[PLGA/Fe₃O₄] Janus microspheres simultaneously possessed superior magnetic and fluorescent properties. Moreover, the [PLGA/EuLa₃(Bim)₁₂]//[PLGA/Fe₃O₄] Janus microspheres showed higher fluorescent intensity than that of PLGA/EuLa₃(Bim)₁₂/Fe₃O₄ composite microspheres.