Engineered biofabrication of biocellulose microcapsules containing arabinogalactan from biorefinery and cubosomes for colon-targeted delivery of drugs

• Grant number: 20/07956-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal researcher: Luiz Henrique Capparelli Mattoso
• Grantee: Filipe Vargas Ferreira
• Home Institution: Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/10636-8 - From the cell factory to the Biodiesel-Bioethanol integrated biorefinery: a systems approach applied to complex problems in micro and macroscales, AP.BIOEN.TEM

Abstract

Intestinal diseases are prevalent worldwide, and the development of sustainable multifunctional materials for controlled drug delivery directly to the colon has received much attention lately. A major challenge that still exists in the preparation of such materials is to achieve, simultaneously, drug protection during gastrointestinal transit, biocompatibility, good performance and simple, cheap and scalable manufacturing. In this context, engineered biofabrication using Bacterial Cellulose (BC) stands out because it allows the preparation of 3D capsules with the potential to controlled drug delivery. However, the use of such capsules is often limited to hydrophilic and large molecules due to the inherent hydrophilicity of BC and the mesh of its membranes. The addition of functional nanomaterials, such as cubosomes, is an alternative to overcome this limitation. This project aims to prepare and evaluate the in vitro performance of a new controlled-release system based on hybrid capsules BC/cubosomes with a pH-smart trigger mechanism for oral colon-targeted delivery of drugs. For this purpose, cubosomes carried with capecitabine - a drug for the Colon Cancer treatment - will be first prepared. Then, 3D capsules based on BC with a size of ~130 µm containing the cubosomes and arabinogalactan - polysaccharide from biorefinery with mucus-adhesive property - will be manufactured by microfluidics. Finally, the sodium alginate will be used in order to prepare pH-responsive capsules. The prepared materials will be comprehensively studied using advanced characterization techniques such as small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy (cryo-TEM). (AU)