Ahmed Elzoghby*, May Freag*, Hadeer Mamdouh and Kadria Elkhodairy Pages 5261 - 5271 ( 11 )
Protein nanocarriers possess unique merits including minimal cytotoxicity, numerous renewable sources, and high drug-binding capability. In opposition to delivery carriers utilizing hydrophilic animal proteins, hydrophobic plant proteins (e.g, zein) have great tendency in fabricating controlled-release particulate carriers without additional chemical modification to stiffen them, which in turn evades the use of toxic chemical crosslinkers. Moreover, zein is related to a class of alcohol-soluble prolamins and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) carrier for drug delivery. Various techniques have been adopted to fabricate zein-based nanoparticulate systems including phase separation coacervation, spray-drying, supercritical anti-solvent approach, electrospinning and self-assembly. This manuscript reviews the recent advances in the zein-based colloidal nano-carrier systems such as nanospheres, nanocapsules, micelles and nanofibers with a special focus on their physicochemical characteristics and drug delivery applications.
Zein nanoparticles, drug delivery, gene delivery, protein delivery, anti-tumor efficacy, nano-carrier.
Cancer Nanotechnology Research Laboratory (CNRL), Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21521, Cancer Nanotechnology Research Laboratory (CNRL), Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21521, Cancer Nanotechnology Research Laboratory (CNRL), Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21521, Cancer Nanotechnology Research Laboratory (CNRL), Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21521