Microfluidic Production of Poly-L-lysine-Coated Alginate Microcapsules for Delivery of Lactobacillus rhamnosus

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Restricted (Penn State Only)
Author:
Bulacan, Gabriel John
Area of Honors:
Biomedical Engineering
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Scott H Medina, Thesis Supervisor
Justin Lee Brown, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Microfluidics
Alginate
microbiome
biomaterial
antimicrobial
gut health
commensal bacteria
encapsulation
Lactobacillus rhamnosus
Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus
Abstract:
Modulation of the gut microbiome shows considerable potential for enhancing overall human health. While current probiotic technologies have limited efficacy due to competition between delivered microbes and established species, an approach to microbial delivery pairing local antimicrobial activity with commensal delivery in the colon poses a breakthrough solution. To this end, alginate encapsulation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and subsequent coating with poly-L-lysine, an antimicrobial peptide, has been previously achieved by lab members using manual droplet extrusion techniques. However, synthesis of such core-shell coated capsules is currently limited in scale and homogeneity due to reliance on manual production methods. We report a cost-effective solution for rapid production of bacteria-loaded, antimicrobial peptide-coated core-shell capsules using a polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic system. Loaded capsules produced from this system demonstrate significantly higher size uniformity compared to manually produced analogues while maintaining similar viability. Our work increases accessibility of peptide-coated capsules for various applications, supporting the development and production of therapeutics involving concomitant antimicrobial delivery and inoculation of mutualistic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.