Mineralized cyclodextrin nanoparticles for sustained protein delivery.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Drug Delivery Systems

Background:

• Protein drugs face limitations due to instability and short in vivo half-lives.
• Sustained delivery systems are crucial for prolonging therapeutic effects of protein drugs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize cyclodextrin-based polymeric nanoparticles (CD-NPs) mineralized with calcium phosphate for sustained protein delivery.
• To evaluate the loading efficiency, release kinetics, and enzymatic activity of a model protein (Carbonic Anhydrase B) from the mineralized CD-NPs.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of spherical CD-NPs using a β-cyclodextrin and carboxymethyl dextran conjugate.
• Mineralization of CD-NPs with calcium phosphate in a physiological solution.
• Characterization of physicochemical properties using FT-IR, TGA, TEM, and XPS.
• Loading of Carbonic Anhydrase B (CAB) via dialysis and in vitro release studies.

Main Results:

• Mineralization reduced CD-NP particle size to 121 nm in PBS (pH 7.4), forming compact nanoparticles.
• High loading efficiency (80%) of CAB was achieved.
• Mineralized CD-NPs exhibited sustained release of CAB for 21 days, compared to 3 days for bare CD-NPs.
• Released CAB retained significant enzymatic activity.

Conclusions:

• Mineralized CD-NPs serve as an effective diffusion barrier, enabling sustained protein release.
• The developed nanoparticles show promise as a carrier for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of protein drugs.
• This approach offers a viable strategy for overcoming the limitations of protein drug instability and short half-lives.