Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Publication Date

4-29-2026

Faculty Mentor

Samantha Wilner

Abstract

Amphiphilic Janus dendrimers (JDs) are constructed from hydrophobic and hydrophilic dendrons, providing a synthetic alternative to lipids in nanomedicines. Recently, ionizable amphiphilic Janus dendrimers (IAJDs) have emerged as a one-component delivery system for messenger RNA (mRNA). In particular, IAJD 97 has been demonstrated to co-assemble with mRNA to form dendrimersome nanoparticles (DNPs) and successfully deliver luciferase mRNA in in vivo models. Here, we investigated the biophysical characteristics of DNPs formed from IAJD 97 using two assembly techniques, ethanol injection and microfluidic mixing. With ethanol injection, we observed that DNP diameter is concentration dependent and that both the polydispersity index (PDI) and zeta potential are reduced by dilution in high pH buffers containing salt. With microfluidic mixing, DNPs are smaller than those produced by ethanol injection but demonstrate inconsistent uniformity, which cannot be improved by changes in pH. We also explored other factors that may influence DNP size and PDI, including injection flow rates and the nitrogen:phosphate (N:P) ratio. Future work will continue to explore differences in microfluidic production of DNPs vs. ethanol injection to produce small, uniform vesicles that can be successfully used in nucleic acid delivery.

Comments

Presented as part of the Ursinus College Celebration of Student Achievement (CoSA) held April 29, 2026.

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