Vila-Sanjurjo C., Fuenzalida J.P., Menchicchi B., Coelho D., Engwer C., Hoffman S., Pereira S., Remuñán-López C., Alonso M.J., Vidal A., Moerschbacher B., Kollenbrock S., Fetzner S., Philipp B., Goycoolea F.M.
Westfaelische Wilhelms Universitaet - Muenster, DE
Keywords: alginate, chitosan, nanocapsules, nanoparticles, polysaccharide, SAXS
Research focused on chitosan (CS)-based nanostructured materials has burgeoned in the past decade or so, particularly in the biosciences and bionanotechnology fields. Chitosan characteristics (Mw and degree of acetylation), as well as the processing conditions to obtain nanoparticles, do influence the physical characteristics, stability in biological media and cytotoxic properties of nanoparticles and nanocapsules [4,5]. A new type of hybrid particles obtained by physical and covalent co-crosslinking strategies exhibit a core-shell architecture with a shell of thickness 6.074 +/- 0.35 nm as evidenced by synchrotron SAXS (Figure 1). This platform is sought for the engineering of mucoadhesive nanomaterials for drug delivery and as a novel approach to achieve non-antibiotic antibacterial biodegradable materials. In parallel, we have also engaged developed new nanomaterials based on chitosan-alginate nanocomplexes (NCXs). For the first time, the composition of alginate is found to influence the biophysical characteristics of the obtained NCXs (size, zeta potential and shell thickness). Ongoing studies in our Groups are currently aiming to develop new strategies that would allow deepening the understanding of the fate of CS-based nanoparticles after interacting with models of epithelial barriers. To this end, green protein fluorescent proteins are being used to label chitosan-based nanoparticles.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2013: Bio Sensors, Instruments, Medical, Environment and Energy (Volume 3)
Published: May 12, 2013
Pages: 217 - 220
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Medical & Biotech
Topic: Biomaterials
ISBN: 978-1-4822-0586-2