title: Linolenic acid-modified chitosan for formation of self-assembled nanoparticles.
abstract: Chitosan was modified by coupling with linolenic acid through the 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyyl)carbodiimide-mediated reaction. The degree of substitution was measured by 1H NMR, and it was 1.8%, i.e., 1.8 linolenic acids group per 100 anhydroglucose units. The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of the self-aggregate of hydrophobically modified chitosan was determined by measuring the fluorescence intensity of the pyrene as a fluorescent probe. The CAC value in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution (pH 7.4) was 5 x 10(-2) mg/mL. The average particle size of self-aggregates of hydrophobically modified chitosan in PBS solution (pH 7.4) was 210.8 nm with a unimodal size distribution ranging from 100 to 500 nm. A transmission electron microscopy study showed that the formation of near spherical shape nanoparticles had enough structural integrity. The loading ability of hydrophobically modified chitosan (LA-chitosan) was investigated by using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein. Self-aggregated nanoparticles exhibited an increased loading capacity (19.85 +/- 0.04 to 37.57 +/- 0.25%) with an increasing concentration of BSA (0.1-0.5 mg/mL).
authors.affiliation: Life Science College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chen-Guang
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kashappa Goud H
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Xi-Guang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hyun-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D049329:Nanostructures; D010316:Particle Size; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D048271:Chitosan