Carboxymethyl-β-glucan/chitosan nanoparticles: new thermostable and efficient carriers for antigen delivery

Abstract

In the last few decades, nanotechnology has emerged as an important tool aimed at enhancing the immune response against modern antigens. Nanocarriers designed specifically for this purpose have been shown to provide protection, stability, and controlled release properties to proteins, peptides, and polynucleotide-based antigens. Polysaccharides are particularly interesting biomaterials for the construction of these nanocarriers given their wide distribution among pathogens, which facilitates their recognition by antigen-presenting cells (APCs). In this work, we focused on an immunostimulant beta-glucan derivative, carboxymethyl-β-glucan, to prepare a novel nanocarrier in combination with chitosan. The resulting carboxymethyl-β-glucan/ chitosan nanoparticles exhibited adequate physicochemical properties and an important protein association efficiency, with ovalbumin as a model compound. Moreover, thermostability was achieved through the optimization of a lyophilized form of the antigen-loaded nanoparticles, which remained stable for up to 1 month at 40 ºC. Biodistribution studies in mice showed an efficient drainage of the nanoparticles to the nearest lymph node following subcutaneous injection, and a significant colocalization with dendritic cells. Additionally, subcutaneous immunization of mice with a single dose of the ovalbumin-loaded nanoparticles led to induced T cell proliferation and antibody responses, comparable to those achieved with alum-adsorbed ovalbumin. These results illustrate the potential of these novel nanocarriers in vaccination.

Chitosan Nanoparticles at the Biological Interface: Implications for Drug Delivery

“…Carboxymethyl-β-glucan/chitosan NPs have been recently used to target vaccines to the lymphatic system. These NPs having a size of about 150 nm and charge +30 mV were loaded with ovalbumin and showed significant lymphatic accumulation due to the size and charge of the NPs and the ability of carboxymethyl-βglucan to interact with antigen-presenting cells [156]. Surface-modified negatively charged poly(methacrylic acid) conjugated chitosan NPs loaded with 10-hydroxy camptothecin (HCPT) significantly increased blood circulation time from 12 h to 24 h and reduced blood clearance (CI) from 30 to 6 mL/h as compared to the non-surface modified NPs.…”

Nanovaccine Delivery Approaches and Advanced Delivery Systems for the Prevention of Viral Infections: From Development to Clinical Application

“…Researchers intramuscularly injected the NPs in mice and observed a 9-fold higher amount of HBV-specific Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies than with the conventional aluminium-adsorbed vaccine. More recently, Cordeiro et al developed carboxymethyl-β-glucan (CMβG)-chitosan nanoparticles for delivery of OVA as a model antigen [145]. In this study, a single vaccine dose subcutaneously injected in mice induced T cell proliferation and antibody responses comparable to those achieved with alum-adsorbed ovalbumin.…”

“…Chitosan, dextran, hyaluronic acid and beta-glucans are among the most commonly used natural polymers in the development of vaccine delivery systems [145]. These biomaterials are particularly attractive since many of them appear naturally in the structure of some microorganisms, making them easily recognisable by immune cells and therefore increasing the possibility of generating an immune response against the loaded antigen [146,147].…”

Effect of beta glucan coating on controlled release, bioaccessibility, and absorption of β-carotene from loaded liposomes

“…29 These studies also discussed the potential biomedical application of beta glucan-based NDS and the control release properties of these nanoparticles into food systems. [30][31][32][33] Beta carotene (βC) was used as a model bioactive compound in this study because of its well-known biological activities like antioxidant activity, anticancer, and provitamin A activity. 17 On the other hand, low stability and poor bioaccessibility and bioavailability due to its hydrophobic nature 34 make beta carotene an excellent choice for nanoencapsulation.…”