Electrospun
zein membranes are suitable for various biomedical
applications. A UV-crosslinked electrospun membrane of a zein/PEO
blend for wound healing application was explored in this work. The
improvement in mechanical properties of the membrane after UV crosslinking
was attributed to the change in protein conformation from an α-helix
to a β-sheet. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra and FTIR spectra
confirmed this conformational change. XRD analysis was shown to prove
the amorphous nature of polymer blends with specific broad peaks at
2θ = 9° and 20°. The water vapor transmission rate
(WVTR) of the membrane was found to be in the range of 1500–2000
g m–2 day–1, which was well suited
with that of commercially available wound dressing material. Enough
number of available functional groups like thiol, amino, and hydroxyl
groups supplement a blood clotting index (BCI) to the matrix, causing
99% BCI within 4 min. A 91% cell viability result in the MTT assay
with human dermal fibroblast cells confirmed the noncytotoxicity of
the membrane. Tripeptides produced after the thermolysin-based hydrolysis
of zein caused inhibition of TGF β1 expression and thus increased
fibroblast and collagen production. The membrane stimulated 54% more
collagen production compared to control cells at day 2 and caused
84% wound closure in human dermal fibroblast cells, which were desirable
index markers of a potential wound care material.
Novel methods for the delivery of drugs other than the conventional method of oral administration had been a thrust area of research for a few decades. Mucoadhesive delivery of drugs...
Mucoadhesive drug delivery systems have been extensively
studied
to effectively reduce the limitations of conventional drug delivery
systems. Zein and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) are appraised for mucoadhesive
properties. This study focuses on developing a mechanically stable
zein/PVP electrospun membrane for propranolol hydrochloride (PL) transport.
Fourier transform infrared, Raman spectra, and swelling studies gave
evidence for PVP crosslinking, whereas circular dichroism spectroscopy
revealed crosslinking of zein owing to the conformational change from
α-helix to β-sheet. A 10 h thermal treatment of zein/PVP
imparted 3.92 ± 0.13 MPa tensile strength to the matrix. Thermally
crosslinked electrospun zein/PVP matrix showed 22.1 ± 0.1 g mm
work of adhesion in porcine buccal mucosa tissue. Qualitative and
quantitative evaluation of cytotoxicity in RPMI 2650 has been carried
out. The in vitro drug release profile of PL from thermally crosslinked
zein/PVP best fitted with the Korsmeyer–Peppas model. Immunostaining
of β-catenin adherens junctional protein confirmed the absence
of paracellular transport through the junctional opening. Still, drug
permeation was observed through the porcine buccal mucosa, attributed
to the transcellular transport of PL owing to its lipophilicity.
The ex vivo permeation of PL through porcine buccal mucosa was also
evaluated.
Thiolated polymers have garnered the wide attention of researchers on mucoadhesive drug delivery. This work explores the thiolation of zein protein using cysteine amino acid via EDC crosslinker. The optimization...
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