Encapsulation and in vitro characterization of protein in PLGA-chitosan nanoparticles for efficient drug delivery

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is one of the most common causes of severe respiratory tract infections worldwide. An effective RSV vaccine requires the induction of mucosal immunity which is a major hurdle. Development of polymeric nanoparticle delivery systems is one of the strategies to overcome this hurdle. PLGA, a biodegradable copolymer is FDA approved and chitosan, a mucoadhesive polymer, has been suggested to increase the membrane permeability when used intranasally. In this study we encapsulated a model protein, BSA in PLGA-chitosan nanoparticles using emulsion method. SDS-PAGE, FTIR, DSC, zeta potential and cytotoxicity on mouse J774 macrophages were performed to characterize the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles showed encapsulation efficiency > 75 % and low toxicity on J774 macrophage cell line. Our data shows the successful encapsulation and characterization of BSA in PLGA-chitosan nanoparticles. An RSV multivalent protein is currently being evaluated as a vaccine delivery system for RSV.