Abstract:
Delivery of macromolecules such as proteins is one of the most intensively studied subjects. The uses of colloidal carriers made
of hydrophilic polysaccharides, i. e. chitosan has arisen as a promising alternative for improving the transport of such mucosal delivery across
biological surface. Many reseaches reported that the benefits of nanoparticles overcame the microspheres in encapsulation. In this study,
encapsulation efficiency (EE) and controlled release of protein form chitosan nanoparticles (CS NP) were investigated. It was found that the
diameter of CS NP is in the range of 60-378 nm and spherical shape. Bovine serum albumin, transferrin, fibrinogen, cytochrome c, ribonuclease
A and ?-lactalbumin were selected as model proteins. Factors affecting encapaulation properties included deacetylation degree (DD) of chitosan,
chitosan concentration, protein concentration, molecular weight (MW) and isoelectric point (pI) of proteins. Increasing of DD from 80 to 90 %
promoted the encapsulation. The encapsulation efficiency was decreased by increase MW of proteins, chitosan concentration from 0.75 to 3.0
mg/ml and initial of proteins. The proteins release from chitosan nanopartcles were determined by diffusion coefficients (D). The release rate of
proteins was increased by increase pH buffer solution and decrease the chitosan concentration. The molecular weight (MW) and Isoelectric point
(pI) of proteins is an important parameter for release rate.