Engineering nano-cellulose bio-composites to improve protein delivery for oral vaccination

Oral vaccine is a non-invasive, ideal way to protect communities from infectious diseases. Effective vaccine delivery systems are required to enhance vaccine absorption in the small intestine and its cellular uptake by immune cells. Here, we constructed alginate/chitosan-coated cellulose nanocrystal (Alg-Chi-CNC) and nanofibril (Alg-Chi-CNF) nanocomposites to enhance ovalbumin (OVA) delivery in the intestine. In vitro mucosal permeation and diffusion and cellular uptake demonstrated that Chi-CNC exhibited better cellular uptake in epithelial and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). In vivo results revealed that alginate/chitosan-coated nanocellulose nanocomposites generated strong systemic and mucosal immune responses. Though the features of functional nano-cellulose composites affected mucus permeation and APC uptakes, in vivo specific-OVA immune responses have not shown significant differences due to the complexity of the small intestine.