title: Zein in controlled drug delivery and tissue engineering.
abstract: Controlled delivery of a bioactive to specific organ, cellular and sub-cellular level is a desired feature of a drug carrier system. In order to achieve this goal, formulation scientists search for better alternatives of biomaterials to deliver the therapeutics in more precise and controlled manner in vivo. Zein, a plant protein obtained from corn, is a useful biomaterial for several industrial applications including agriculture, cosmetics, packaging and pharmaceuticals. Being a hydrophobic protein, which is biodegradable, biocompatible, economic to use and with generally regarded safe "GRAS" status, it is an attractive biomaterial for human use. Novel biomedical applications of zein such as controlled and targeted delivery of bioactives and tissue engineering are the current research interests of the scientific fraternity. Here we attempt to review the literature on zein as a biopolymer for drug/vaccine/gene delivery and its applicability in tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Kingsville, TX, USA. Electronic address: rishipaliwal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rishi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paliwal
authors.affiliation: Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Kingsville, TX, USA. Electronic address: palakurthi@tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Srinath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palakurthi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006801:Humans; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D015028:Zein
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D015028:Zein
keywords: Biomaterial; Diagnostics; Drug delivery; Nanoparticle; Tissue engineering; Zein