@article {15588, title = {Development of newchitosan/carrageenan nanoparticles for drug delivery and tissue engineeringapplications}, journal = {Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A}, volume = {92A}, year = {2010}, month = {2010-02-02 00:00:00}, pages = {1265-1272}, abstract = {

The use of polymeric nanoparticles, especially those composed of natural polymers, has become a very interesting approach in drug delivery, mainly because of the advantages offered by their small dimensions. The aim of this work was to develop a novel formulation of nano- particles comprised of two natural marine-derived poly- mers, namely chitosan and carrageenan, and to evaluate their potential for the association and controlled release of macromolecules. Nanoparticles were obtained in a hydro- philic environment, under very mild conditions, avoiding the use of organic solvents or other aggressive technologies for their preparation. The developed nanocarriers pre- sented sizes within 350{\textendash}650 nm and positive zeta poten- tials of 50{\textendash}60 mV. Polymeric interactions between nanopar- ticles{\textquoteright} components were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Using ovalbumin as model protein,

nanoparticles evidenced loading capacity varying from 4\% to 17\% and demonstrated excellent capacity to provide a controlled release for up to 3 weeks. Furthermore, nano- particles have demonstrated to exhibit a noncytotoxic behavior in biological in vitro tests performed using L929 fibroblasts, which is critical regarding the biocompatibility of those carriers. In summary, the developed chitosan-car- rageenan nanoparticles have shown promising properties to be used as carriers of therapeutic macromolecules, with potential application not only strictly in drug delivery, but also in broader areas, such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

}, keywords = {carrageenan, Chitosan, controlled release, ionic interaction, Nanoparticles}, author = {Grenha, A. and Gomes, M. E. and Rodrigues, M. T. and Santo, V. E. and Mano, J. F. and Neves, N. M. and Reis, R. L.} }