A novel bioinspired strategy for protein nanoparticle (NP) synthesis to achieve pH-responsive drug release exploits the pH-dependent changes in the coordination stoichiometry of iron(III)-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) complexes, which play a major cross-linking role in mussel byssal threads. Doxorubicin-loaded polymeric NPs that are based on Fe(III)-DOPA complexation were thus synthesized with a DOPA-modified recombinant mussel adhesive protein through a co-electrospraying process. The release of doxorubicin was found to be predominantly governed by a change in the structure of the Fe(III)-DOPA complexes induced by an acidic pH value. It was also demonstrated that the fabricated NPs exhibited effective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells through efficient cellular uptake and cytosolic release. Therefore, it is anticipated that Fe(III)-DOPA complexation can be successfully utilized as a new design principle for pH-responsive NPs for diverse controlled drug-delivery applications.
BackgroundUnique adhesive and biocompatibility properties of mussel adhesive proteins (MAPs) are known for their great potential in many tissue engineering and biomedical applications. Previously, it was successfully demonstrated that redesigned hybrid type MAP, fp-151, mass-produced in Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, could be utilized as a promising adhesive biomaterial. However, purification of recombinant fp-151 has been unsatisfactory due to its adhesive nature and polarity which make separation of contaminants (especially, lipopolysaccharide, a toxic Gram-negative cell membrane component) very difficult.ResultsIn the present work, we devised a high resolution purification approach to secure safety standards of recombinant fp-151 for the successful use in in vivo applications. Undesirable impurities were remarkably eliminated as going through sequential steps including treatment with multivalent ion and chelating agent for cell membrane washing, mechanical cell disruption, non-ionic surfactant treatment for isolated inclusion body washing, acid extraction of washed inclusion body, and ion exchange chromatography purification of acid extracted sample. Through various analyses, such as high performance liquid chromatographic purity assay, limulus amoebocyte lysate endotoxin assay, and in vitro mouse macrophage cell tests on inflammation, viability, cytotoxicity, and apoptosis, we confirmed the biological safety of bacterial-derived purified recombinant fp-151.ConclusionsThrough this purification design, recombinant fp-151 achieved 99.90% protein purity and 99.91% endotoxin reduction that nearly no inflammation response was observed in in vitro experiments. Thus, the highly purified recombinant MAP would be successfully used as a safety-secured in vivo bioadhesive for tissue engineering and biomedical applications.
Engineered mussel bioglue is a promising functional binder for acceleration of bone substitute-assisted bone regeneration with enhanced osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity.
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