Extraction of Squilla (Harpiosquilla annandalei) shell derived chitosan and its nanocarrier efficiency for sustained protein delivery

The delivery of proteins has enormous potential in chronic disease treatment and immunomodulation. But, because of the intrinsic properties of proteins such as poor stability and quick bio clearance, their usage is limited in targeted delivery. This work suggests a cost-effective method to prepare an efficient polymer-based nanocarrier system for the sustained delivery of protein. Herein, low molecular weight chitosan (CS) was extracted from the shell waste of squilla (Harpiosquilla annandalei) (sCS) and characterized. It showed higher water-binding capacity (WBC) of 548 ± 11.7% as well as fat binding capacity (FBC) of 369 ± 19.9% respectively, as compared to commercial CS (cCS). BSA loaded nanoparticles were synthesized through the ionic gelation method using cCS and sCS. The sCS-based BSA encapsulated nanoparticles (BSA-sCSNPs) were observed to be uniform and small (60-195 nm) as compared to BSA loaded cCS-based nanoparticles (BSA-cCSNPs). The encapsulation efficiency (EE%) was highest for 1 mg/mL CS, BSA, and tripolyphosphate (TPP) based BSA-sCSNPs. Moreover, the in vitro BSA release profile exhibited that BSA-sCSNPs resulted in more stable and sustained release till the 16th h (85.4 ± 1.15%) than BSA-cCSNPs. Further, the sCS and BSA-sCSNPs were biocompatible with L929 cells and showed no cytotoxic effects. Thus, this biocompatible nanoparticle system can be used as a pharmaceutical as well as a nutraceutical agent to improve the stability as well as targeted delivery of the protein.