title: Zein-based films and their usage for controlled delivery: Origin, classes and current landscape.
abstract: Zein is a class of alcohol-soluble prolamine proteins present in maize endosperm, which was approved as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) excipient in 1985 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) for film coating of pharmaceuticals, e.g., tablets. Despite its long-term application in tablet production, effects of zein coating on tablet properties are still not fully understood. Moreover, many studies have also been conducted to illustrate its potential as an active ingredient of direct compressed tablets and film-based delivery carriers. In addition, the use of zein as a functional film coating material for new biomedical applications was also widely investigated in recent reports, which involved medical devices, nanoparticles, quantum dots and nanofibers. In this review, the present status of zein in the form of a thin film and uniform layer for use as a biomedical material is discussed. In addition, studies related to the behaviors and properties of zein films are also summarized and analyzed based on published works to gain mechanistic insights into the relationship between zein film and various improved profiles. This review will benefit future prospects of the use of zein film in drug delivery and biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China; Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China; State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, China Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang 050051, China. Electronic address: zhypharm@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Biophysics Group, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: The Second Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Che
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Jilin Medical College, Jilin 132013, China.
authors.forename: Nianqiu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, China Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang 050051, China.
authors.forename: Chunlei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China; Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China; Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013607:Tablets / Q000737:chemistry; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*; D015028:Zein / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D013607:Tablets; D015028:Zein
keywords: Biomedical application; Coating; Controlled delivery; Film; Zein