3D-Printed Microcubes for Catalase Drug Delivery

Oxidative stress, i.e., excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Catalase, an antioxidant enzyme, has great therapeutic potential; however, its efficacy is limited by its delivery to target cells or tissues. In order to achieve efficient delivery, consistent drug distribution, and drug activity, small and uniformly sized drug delivery vehicles are needed. Here, three-dimensional (3D) microcubes were printed by Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2, a high-resolution 3D printer, and the characteristics of 3D-printed microcubes as drug delivery vehicles for the delivery of catalase were investigated. The size of the 3D-printed microcubes was 800 nm in length of a square and 600 nm in height, which is suitable for targeting macrophages passively. Microcubes were also tunable in shape and size, and high-resolution 3D printing could provide microparticles with little variation in shape and size. Catalase was loaded on 3D-printed microcubes by nonspecific adsorption, and catalase on 3D-printed microcubes (CAT-MC) retained 83.1 ± 1.3% activity of intact catalase. CAT-MC also saved macrophages, RAW 264.7, from the cytotoxicity of H₂O₂ by 86.4 ± 4.1%. As drug delivery vehicles, 3D-printed microparticles are very promising due to their small and uniform size, which provides consistent drug distribution and drug activity. Therefore, we anticipate numerous applications of 3D-printed microparticles for delivering therapeutic proteins.