Charged pullulan derivatives for the development of nanocarriers by polyelectrolyte complexation

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Pullulan is a neutral polysaccharide with potential for modification.
• Developing novel nanocarriers is crucial for advanced drug delivery systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To chemically modify pullulan to create charged derivatives.
• To characterize these derivatives and assess their ability to form nanoparticles.
• To evaluate the potential of these nanoparticles for protein association and drug delivery.

Main Methods:

• Chemical modification of pullulan using SO3(.)DMF complex and glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride.
• Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for confirmation of charged groups.
• (1)H- and (13)C NMR (COSY, HSQC-TOCSY, HSQC-DEPT, and HMBC) for structural analysis.
• Elemental analysis and NMR for estimation of the degree of substitution (DS).
• Polyelectrolyte complexation to form nanoparticles and association with bovine serum albumin (BSA).

Main Results:

• Two charged pullulan derivatives, a sulfate derivative (SP) and a quaternary ammonium salt (AP), were successfully synthesized.
• FTIR and NMR confirmed the presence and positions of the introduced charged groups.
• The derivatives formed nanoparticles through polyelectrolyte complexation.
• These nanoparticles demonstrated the ability to associate with a model protein (BSA).
• The resulting nanoparticles exhibited suitable size characteristics for drug delivery applications.

Conclusions:

• The synthesized charged pullulan derivatives are effective in forming self-assembling nanoparticles.
• These pullulan-based nanocarriers show significant potential for encapsulating and delivering therapeutic proteins.
• The study highlights a promising new route for developing advanced nanocarrier systems for drug delivery using modified polysaccharides.