Protein Drug Delivery

Proteins are kind of natural molecules that show unique functionalities and properties in biological materials and manufacturing field. There are numerous nanomaterials which are derived from protein, albumin, and gelatine. These nanoparticles have promising properties like biodegradability, no antigenicity, metabolizable, surface modifier, greater stability during in vivo during storage, and being relatively easy to prepare and monitor the size of the particles. These particles have the ability to attach covalently with drug and ligands. Protein nanoparticles can be used in various targeted therapies, namely, pulmonary delivery, cancer therapy, tumour therapy, and vaccines, in which protein nanoparticles can be incorporated into biodegradable polymer in the form of microspheres for controlled and sustained release. The major aim in designing nanoparticle as a drug delivery system is to control particle size, surface area, and surface properties so that the nanoparticles carrying required amount of drug show desired pharmacological activity by releasing actives in order to achieve site-specific action. Proteins nanoparticles have certain unique functionalities and potential applications in both biomedical and material sciences. They are recommended as ideal material for the preparation of nanoparticles because of their amphiphilicity which allow the nanoparticles to interact with both the drug and solvent. Nanoparticles derived from natural proteins are biodegradable, metabolizable, and easily adaptable to surface modifications to allow attachment of drug and targeting ligands. They can be synthesized from various protein including water soluble proteins.