Release profile and stability evaluation of optimized chitosan/alginate nanoparticles as EGFR antisense vector

Abstract

Ebrahim Azizi1,4, Alireza Namazi1, Ismaeil Haririan2,5, Shamileh Fouladdel1, Mohammad R Khoshayand3, Parisa Y Shotorbani6, Alireza Nomani1,7, Taraneh Gazori1,21Molecular Research Lab, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 2Department of Pharmaceutics, 3Department of Food and Drug Control, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Medical Technologies, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5Biomaterials Research Center (BRC) Tehran, Iran; 6Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran; 7Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IranAbstract: Chitosan/alginate nanoparticles which had been optimized in our previous study using two different N/P ratios were chosen and their ability to release epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antisense was investigated. In addition, the stability of these nanoparticles in aqueous medium and after freeze-drying was investigated. In the case of both N/P ratios (5, 25), nanoparticles started releasing EGFR antisense as soon as they were exposed to the medium and the release lasted for approximately 50 hours. Nanoparticle size, shape, zeta potential, and release profile did not show any significant change after the freeze-drying process (followed by reswelling). The nanoparticles were reswellable again after freeze-drying in phosphate buffer with a pH of 7.4 over a period of six hours. Agarose gel electrophoresis of the nanoparticles with the two different N/P ratios showed that these nanoparticles could protect EGFR antisense molecules for six hours.Keywords: chitosan/alginate nanoparticles, release profile, freeze-drying, agarose gel electrophoresis